Reading and studying one chapter of the bible every day. Prayerfully study the whole 2nd Chapter of the book of 2 CORINTHIANS.
December 28, 2024
? 2 CORINTHIANS 2
[4] For out of much affliction and anguish of heart I wrote to you, with many tears, not that you should be grieved, but that you might know the love which I have so abundantly for you.
[6] This punishment which was inflicted by the majority is sufficient for such a man,
[7] so that, on the contrary, you ought rather to forgive and comfort him, lest perhaps such a one be swallowed up with too much sorrow.
[8]Therefore I urge you to reaffirm your love to him.
[14] Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and through us diffuses the fragrance of His knowledge in every place.
[15] For we are to God the fragrance of Christ among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing.
Beloved of God, happy day. Are you a blessing to those you stay with or you are a curse?
Every child of God is a good fragrance of Christ among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing.
1️⃣ LET US NOT FORSAKE THOSE WHO ARE UNDER PUNISHMENT
? Paul loved Christians from Corinth to the point of writing to them shedding tears (Verse 4). A good shepherd loves his sheep even to the point of dying for them. Paul told Corinthians that a person who has been punished should not be forsaken/ rejected but rather be comforted lest such a one be swallowed up with too much sorrow. Again he said that “Therefore I urge you to reaffirm your love to him.” Verse 8.
⚠️When someone is punished by the church because of his mistakes, he is ashamed to the point that if he is not shown love, he may become a prey to Satan. Believers and leaders must be besides him and visit him, pray for him so he doesn’t go astray far from the fold of the Lord.
✳️ “..Those who persist in open sin must be separated from the church, but He has not committed to us the work of judging character and motive. He knows our nature too well to entrust this work to us. Should we try to uproot from the church those whom we suppose to be spurious Christians, we should be sure to make mistakes. Often we regard as hopeless subjects the very ones whom Christ is drawing to Himself.” COL 40
⚠️Who am I to judge others? It is not good to rush in punishing someone publicly. We should first try our best to bring him back with love and gentleness.
2️⃣ WE ARE A GOOD FRAGRANCE
?The opposite of fragrance is stench. Those who have accepted Jesus do not smell bad for others but they smell good; they do not create problems but solutions; they are not a curse but a blessing. Paul said: ”For we are to God the fragrance of Christ among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing.” Verse 15.
✳️ “The world is full of sickness, suffering, and iniquity. Nigh and afar off are souls in poverty and distress, weighed down with a sense of guilt and perishing for want of a saving influence. The gospel of truth is kept ever before them, yet they perish because the example of those who should be a savor of life to them is a savor of death. Their souls drink in bitterness because the springs are poisoned, when they should be like a well of water springing up unto everlasting life.” PK 232
⚠️Dear beloved, on this last Sabbath of the year, know that your lifestyle can lead people to salvation or cause them to perish. Starting from today onward, be a fragrance and a light among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing. Be an ambassador of heaven wherever you are, God’s love always reflecting from you.
?LET US KEEP IN MIND THAT OUR BEHAVIOR SAVES OR SPOILS PEOPLE; GOD TRANSFORM US INTO A GOOD FRAGRANCE.
Onward Pilgrim