IBS Application for 2 Corinthians 13:11

“Finally, brothers, rejoice. Aim for restoration, comfort one another, agree with one another, live in peace; and the God of love and peace will be with you.”

Paul, in this particular closing statement in this letter to the church in Corinth, identifies four actions they needed to start taking if they were to start living in the love and peace of God again. As we know according to Scripture, the actions in themselves wouldn’t justify them or sanctify them in any way, but they would serve to unify the members of the church under this love and peace. These were to “aim for restoration, comfort one another, agree with one another,” and “live in peace.”

The church in Corinth had been dealing with so many problems that Paul felt to need to make several addresses to them, both in person and through epistles. It’s suggested in one of the two letters that Paul wrote to the Corinthians that he wrote more letters to them than just these two, in fact. They were a high maintenance church for Paul, as they kept backsliding into sins, many of which involved a good deal of disunity amongst them.

The members of this church had been suing each other instead of dealing with the grievances personally, failing to exercise good judgement towards those who were stubbornly living in sins like incest, misusing their spiritual gifts, listening to false teachers and apostles who sought to sow discord within the church... the list goes on. Paul, of course, still cared greatly for them, and sought to continue his ministry there in spite of how much trouble they caused.

If there’s one thing that can be gleaned from the Corinthians’ story, it’s that God showed much grace to this church. But as Paul states in one of his other letters, we are to “by no means” take advantage of this grace and continue to sin without true repentance. In regards to unity, Paul’s given us the outline for doing this amongst ourselves: Aiming for restoration, providing comfort to each other, being of the same mind and in agreement with each other, and living in peace with each other.

Practically, this really ought to look like a natural outpouring of the Spirit and love upon one another. If we approach grievances with a heart that seeks restoration, if we comfort those among us who are hurting, if we seek to be in agreement with each other when decisions and actions have to be taken, if we seek peace in our dealings with each other, then God will be with us as we do life together as the body of Christ.

My application for this one will be to pray not only that I would seek to have a heart that seeks these four traits, but that God would reveal to me the areas where I am deficient in my dealings with my brothers and sisters, that I might improve in them through the renewal of my mind. I will pray for this every morning for the three days. If God does reveal anything to me during or after that time that needs improvement, then I will ask one of my brothers to pray with me about it and keep me accountable to seeking improvement in that area of my walk.