Begin with 2 minutes of silence and stillness before God.

I’ve been reading the Bible since I was a child. I’m familiar with all the major stories and incredible people God used to do His will. What I have to be careful of, though, is missing the fascinating, human side of these people. It can be easy to zip past the fact that these are real people experiencing the same doubts, emotions, and fears we would experience if we went through what they did.

In 2 Corinthians, Paul is a great example of this. He is struggling with the difficulties and negativity coming from the Corinth church. No different from the difficulties and negativity we face today. In verse 7 Paul says, “...so you should rather turn to forgive and comfort him, or he may be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow.” He is speaking of someone who had sinned and encouraging the people of Corinth to forgive him and help him in his journey to know Christ - all while knowing there had been false teachers speaking negatively about Paul and trying to dismantle the work he had done. Paul is navigating trying to help the lost people of Corinth come to know, love, and follow Jesus Christ while being undermined by false teachers and non-believers. Sound familiar?

It’s incredible. This story takes place a couple thousand years ago, but we still experience the same things today. We work to follow God’s will and work hard to carry out our purpose every day. But there always seems to be someone or some type of negativity trying to push its way to the forefront.

The great news is we aren’t alone! As long as we are here on this earth the devil will work to hold us back just like he did to Paul. But James 1:2 says, “Count it joy when you meet trials of many kinds.” Our work on this earth will never be easy. But it's not supposed to be! Lean into our Father in prayer and stay in His word, and the peace He brings as we do His work is beyond understanding. Embrace the difficulty this life brings and allow God to do His work through you. Be the man or woman the devil worries about; when you wake up, make sure the devil says, "Uh oh, (s)he’s up!"

Take 2 minutes to reflect in silence.

Reflection:

• Is there someone or something in your life you avoid because it seems difficult? Do you need to help someone through a difficult time, apologize to someone for a mistake, or step out in faith and lead or serve in our church? Pray that God will give you the courage to do what is necessary for His good and perfect will to be done in your life, despite how difficult it may seem.

Family Devos: 2 Corinthians 2 

By: Dahlia Landers 

When partnering with your family to know, love, and follow Jesus, we strive to create and share content filtered by the Head-Heart-Hands model. 

Head: the knowledge of God and His Word | Heart: the personal connection from scripture | Hands: a missional mindset 

Head

In this chapter, Paul continues to write to the church in Corinth to give them directions and guides them to continue to follow Jesus. Timothy is helping him complete this letter. 

At the beginning of this chapter, Paul explains why he decided not to visit the church in Corinth again. He tells them that he wrote the first letter to them out of his deep love and not to grieve them. Do you understand what this means? He did not want to hurt them but wanted to teach them to make the right choices. This is like how parents correct their children because they love them. 

He explains to the people of this church that if one person has made wrong choices it hurts all the members of the church. However, the church decided to punish this individual - that is enough punishment. Paul tells them to forgive and comfort this individual. That reminds us of how a parent may punish a child, but then there is forgiveness and a lesson learned.

Heart

Do you ever apologize to someone after you have disagreed? Or have you needed to forgive someone and not keep a grudge? Satan schemes to keep us from forgiving others, but we do not let Him confuse us about doing what is right in God’s eyes. 

Paul continues to tell the Corinthians how God has led them to share their belief in God and in Jesus. For those who are saved and come to know Jesus and His Father, there is an aroma that brings life. Do you think Paul meant that those who are saved smell different or is it how they act that changes when Jesus is invited into their hearts? 

Hands

Paul tells them that he and Timothy are not sharing the word of God for profit (that means to make money). Instead, they speak with sincerity as those who are sent by God. They are ministers of the New Covenant. As a family, talk about opportunities to share with others the Word of God and how you invited Jesus into your heart. 

Prayer:  God, thank you for giving us the Bible to read and learn more about what Christians should be like. Thank you for Paul and Timothy and the letters they wrote to help guide us. Help us to take these words about forgiveness and learn from them. Thank you for our family. Thank you for loving us. In Jesus name, Amen.