God Speaks
As God’s partners, we beg you not to toss aside this marvelous message of God’s great kindness. 2 For God says, “Your cry came to me at a favorable time, when the doors of welcome were wide open. I helped you on a day when salvation was being offered.” Right now God is ready to welcome you. Today he is ready to save you.
3 We try to live in such a way that no one will ever be offended or kept back from finding the Lord by the way we act, so that no one can find fault with us and blame it on the Lord. 4 In fact, in everything we do we try to show that we are true ministers of God.
We patiently endure suffering and hardship and trouble of every kind. 5 We have been beaten, put in jail, faced angry mobs, worked to exhaustion, stayed awake through sleepless nights of watching, and gone without food. 6 We have proved ourselves to be what we claim by our wholesome lives and by our understanding of the Gospel and by our patience. We have been kind and truly loving and filled with the Holy Spirit. 7 We have been truthful, with God’s power helping us in all we do. All of the godly man’s arsenal—weapons of defense, and weapons of attack—have been ours.
8 We stand true to the Lord whether others honor us or despise us, whether they criticize us or commend us. We are honest, but they call us liars.
9 The world ignores us, but we are known to God; we live close to death, but here we are, still very much alive. We have been injured but kept from death. 10 Our hearts ache, but at the same time we have the joy of the Lord. We are poor, but we give rich spiritual gifts to others. We own nothing, and yet we enjoy everything.
11 Oh, my dear Corinthian friends! I have told you all my feelings; I love you with all my heart. 12 Any coldness still between us is not because of any lack of love on my part but because your love is too small and does not reach out to me and draw me in. 13 I am talking to you now as if you truly were my very own children. Open your hearts to us! Return our love!
14 Don’t be teamed with those who do not love the Lord, for what do the people of God have in common with the people of sin? How can light live with darkness? 15 And what harmony can there be between Christ and the devil? How can a Christian be a partner with one who doesn’t believe? 16 And what union can there be between God’s temple and idols? For you are God’s temple, the home of the living God, and God has said of you, “I will live in them and walk among them, and I will be their God and they shall be my people.” 17 That is why the Lord has said, “Leave them; separate yourselves from them; don’t touch their filthy things, and I will welcome you 18 and be a Father to you, and you will be my sons and daughters.”
Source: The Living Bible: BibleGateway.com
We Respond
Reflection: In chapter 6, Paul continues to urge the Corinthians to be reconciled with God, saying, “Today is the day.” Don’t put it off. God is ready, willing, and able to save them. He even promised to do so. In verses 4-10, Paul listed a multiplicity of ways he and others had endured, struggled, or suffered so that those in Corinth could receive the good news of Jesus Christ. This proved that they were true ministers of God. Paul and his fellow workers endured all this out of love for the Corinthians and only wished for that love to be reciprocated. In verses 14 through 17, Paul warns them about partnering or uniting with those who do not love the Lord. This did not mean for the Corinthians not to associate with unbelievers but to remember to Whom they belong and Whose children they are. It is similar to Jesus’s prayer in John 17:15-19.
Prayer: Dear Father God who is right there with your people in trouble, thank You for being with me in all the difficulties in my life even before I knew You as my Savior and Lord. Thank You for being there with Paul and all believers down through the centuries. Thank you for leaders like Paul and the other Apostles and other godly people who have faced such trials and tribulations down through the ages and to this very day. The places of honor that You are preparing for them in Heaven must be truly glorious as a reward for all they so faithfully endured for the sake of Your kingdom. I look forward to spending time with them. We will discuss how much You loved us and how we attempted to love You in return by loving people, Your highest creation, and helping them to be reconciled to You. Lord, please show me how to live among the people of this world without actually partnering or uniting with them. I want to honor and reflect You among them without becoming so like them that You are distorted or obscured. Help me to remember to Whom I belong and Whose child I am. AMEN
Action: (Ask God, the Holy Spirit, which one of these He wants you to work on or something else more personal that He points out.)
- I will use the list below (based on 2 Corinthians 6:4-10) to pray for Christians (especially leaders) who are serving God under very difficult circumstances around the world.
They endured troubles and hardships and calamities of every kind.
They were beaten, put in prison, faced angry mobs.
They worked to exhaustion, endured sleepless nights, and went without food.
They also proved themselves by their purity, their understanding, their kindness.
The Holy Spirit within them enabled them to demonstrate sincere love and faithfully preach the truth.
By the power of God, they used the weapons of righteousness with both hands (strongly and skillfully) for both attack and defense against the forces of evil and the evil one.
They served God whether the people reacted with honor or contempt, commendation or criticism, honesty or lies.
The world ignored them, but God knew them.
They were brought to the brink of death, but God preserved their life.
They were severely punished, but not put to death.
The Lord replaced their heartaches with His joy.
They were poor but gave spiritual riches to others.
They owned nothing but enjoyed everything.
- I will ask the Lord to give me the courage to yield to Him if He should choose to put me in similar situations.
- I will examine my relationships to see if I might be being drawn into partnering or uniting with evil.
- I will examine my relationships to see how I can strengthen my ties and partner or unite with those who are seeking to do good and serve the Lord.
Share: I plan to share what I’ve learned with __________.