In our Being Transformed Journals, we are wrapping up Pauls’s second letter to the Corinthian church. We have followed him as he talked about suffering. We even, toward the end, get a glimpse into some personal struggles he had, aka the thorn. So how do you wrap it up? What do you say as you finish your letter that hopefully brings change, conviction, and God back at the center of it all?
My man Paul does it beautifully! In 2 Corinthians 13:11-14, he says two things that stand out to me.
First, he takes a minute to tell the people to rejoice. The thing about this letter is that it was not just a friendly “o how are you doing today,” kind of letter. Yes, there was a moment of encouragement, but also moments of correcting. The church was not following God as it should. There needed to be some true repentance, making a 180-degree turn from their path.
Now when I receive correction, or I’m shown that I’m not living right, I tend to beat myself up a lot. I don’t know how the Corinthian church felt about this letter, but Paul wanted to leave them thinking about being joyful. REJOICE, he said. I want to encourage anyone reading this to REJOICE! Maybe after reading this letter, you will find things out of order in your heart. Don’t let discouragement bring you to a place of feeling down, but instead, rejoice in the Lord.
Philippians 4:4-5
4 Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. 5 Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand.
He has not given up on you, and a slight correction from time to time is so needed.
The last thing I love that Paul does is he calls the church to unity. He says it in four different ways, all getting the point across. Aim for restoration, comfort one another, agree with one another, and live in peace.
Unity is important. As New Song grows as a church, we need unity. As we grow as the body of Christ, we need unity because it’s not just our church that makes the body of Christ. His final encouragement after everything he writes is don’t become divided. And the best part is when we do these things, Paul says, “and the God of love and peace will be with you.”
Let’s keep it up, Church! Let’s keep hitting our Being Transformed Journals daily. I hope this has been a blessing to you.
