Quick Note – 2 Corinthians 1:23-2:4 – Correcting in Love

2 Corinthians 1:23-2:4 – “But I call God to witness against me – it was to spare you that I refrained from coming again to Corinth.  Not that we lord it over your faith, but we work with you for your joy, for you stand firm in your faith.  For I made up my mind not to make another painful visit to you.  For if I cause you pain, who is there to make me glad but the one whom I have pained?  And I wrote as I did, so that when I came I might not suffer pain from those who should have made me rejoice, for I felt sure of all of you, that my joy would be the joy of you all.  For I wrote to you out of much affliction and anguish of heart and with many tears, not to cause you pain but to let you know the abundant love that I have for you.” 

Nobody likes to be corrected.  Most of us hate the feeling of being rebuked by another person when we have done something wrong.  Although they may be doing it for our own good, we feel like their only intention is to take joy in criticizing us and our work.  Surprisingly though, most of us enjoy being on the other side of that equation.  We take some pleasure in telling another person that they have messed up and need to fix something in their work or life.  We correct with good intentions but not necessarily with the right attitude or implementation.  Why is that?  Knowing how painful it is to be corrected, shouldn’t we be more compassionate and understanding?

Paul, in our passage today, told the Corinthian church why he didn’t end up visiting them when he had plans to do so previously. He said that the reason he didn’t come to see them yet was because he wanted to spare them a painful visit.  This visit was likely to be painful, because if he came at the time, he would have found them to be in sin that needed reprimanding.  So instead of coming, he wrote them the first letter (1 Corinthians) to rebuke them and encourage them to repent.  When writing that letter though, he did it with a loving and compassionate attitude.  By looking at his example, we can learn how to correct our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ with the right attitude, so that we do not hurt them but encourage them to draw closer to the Lord.

First, take notice of the humble attitude that Paul had when correcting (1 Corinthians 1:23).  When correcting them, he did not lord over them acting like a master disappointed in his slave or a boss in his employee, but he worked with them as a fellow servant desiring to increase their joy.  He did not act with a “holier than thou” attitude seeing himself as above them due to his status as an apostle and leader of the church, but he acted with humility wanting to lift them up.  He took his own advice in 1 Corinthians 10:12, “Therefore let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall.”  He understood that he could easily be on the other end and treated them the way he would want to be treated with respect and dignity.  When we correct, we must be careful not to act with pride (because we didn’t fall to the same sin), but with a spirit of humility.

Second, take notice of his heart of compassion and understanding (2 Corinthians 2:1-4).  When Paul wrote rebuking the Corinthians, he wrote to them with a heart full of anguish, affliction, pain, and tears.  He took no joy seeing sin in his fellow brothers and sisters and grieved that he had to reprimand them.   He knew that it was necessary, but it didn’t make it any easier for him to see his children in Christ in pain.  Paul must have felt like a parent who lovingly disciplines his or her child but takes no pleasure in it.  He felt pain when they were in pain.  He felt joy when they felt joy.  He had compassion towards them, for he felt as they felt in that situation.  We have every capacity to understand what it feels like to be corrected, for we have all experienced that feeling before.  It can come with shame, guilt, frustration, and hurt.  Though it may be for our good, it may not feel like it at the time.  Knowing that feeling, should we not act compassionately, when we rebuke one another?

Lastly, take notice of his loving purpose (2 Corinthians 2:4).  When Paul wrote to rebuke them, he didn’t do so to cause them pain but to let them know of his abundant love for them.  1 Corinthians 13:6 says that love does “not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth.”  Love hates sin and wants to get rid of it.  So when Paul corrected them, he was doing it, because he loved them.  He wanted them to have a strong, uninterrupted relationship with God.  And though discipline would hurt them in the short term, it would produce godly repentance in them, something worth far greater than the temporary pain.  Again like a parent, lovingly corrects his or her child to protect them and help them to grow in the proper manner, Paul was caring for his Corinthian children.  When we correct someone, we must do so in love.  We must think about why we are doing it.  Are we doing it to spite the person or get back at them for correcting us before?  Or are we doing so because we love them and want what is best for them?  If you are not doing so in love, then you are correcting with the wrong purpose.  Correction should be done with and for love.

So next time, we find ourselves rebuking one of our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ, let us do so with both the right intentions and the right attitude and heart.