Whats on your mind? Daily manna! Sunday, January 25, 2015. TOPIC: Sweet Repose For The Christ-Like. TEXT: 2 CORINTHIANS 2:1-11;[King James Version (KJV)] 2 But I determined this with myself, that I would not come again to you in heaviness. 2 For if I make you sorry, who is he then that maketh me glad, but the same which is made sorry by me? 3 And I wrote this same unto you, lest, when I came, I should have sorrow from them of whom I ought to rejoice; having confidence in you all, that my joy is the joy of you all. 4 For out of much affliction and anguish of heart I wrote unto you with many tears; not that ye should be grieved, but that ye might know the love which I have more abundantly unto you. 5 But if any have caused grief, he hath not grieved me, but in part: that I may not overcharge you all. 6 Sufficient to such a man is this punishment, which was inflicted of many. 7 So that contrariwise ye ought rather to forgive him, and comfort him, lest perhaps such a one should be swallowed up with overmuch sorrow. 8 Wherefore I beseech you that ye would confirm your love toward him. 9 For to this end also did I write, that I might know the proof of you, whether ye be obedient in all things. 10 To whom ye forgive any thing, I forgive also: for if I forgave any thing, to whom I forgave it, for your sakes forgave I it in the person of Christ; 11 Lest Satan should get an advantage of us: for we are not ignorant of his devices. Key Verse: “So that contrariwise ye ought rather to forgive him, and comfort him, lest perhaps such a one should be swallowed up with overmuch sorrow” ( 2 Corinthians 2:7). The penitentiary, that is, the prison, is meant to correct the ills of society. Statistics reveal that instead of rehabilitating offenders, jail terms in prisons tend to harden the majority of criminals. They come out of prisons worse than they went in because of their belief that the society hated them for even sending them to jail. In the Corinthian church, indiscipline became commonplace to the point of destroying the very spiritual fabric of the church. Apostle Paul, as the supervising shepherd of the church, provided a remedy by the excommunication of a member who was found guilty of fornication. Although this particular member repented of his sin, he was left in the cold. Apostle Paul had to write this second epistle that superceded his earlier instruction to lift the discipline of the errant but penitent member. He reasoned that an endless discipline instead of correcting an ill, could harden the errant disciple in his sins. Church discipline is necessary and essential to the spiritual health of the church. But an endless and erratic discipline without grace could harden the disciplined. In our homes, parents should discipline their erring children with appropriate punishment that is commensurate with the offence. Besides, the guilty must be punished to enable him lead a better life and not necessarily to snuff life out of him altogether. As we maintain an uncompromising stance in keeping God’s law with regards to discipline in the family, church and society, let’s do so from God’s clear perspective - the ability to temper justice with mercy. BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: ACTS 24 - 25 THOUGHT FOR THE DAY: Discipline without love is cruelty.
Posted on: Sun, 25 Jan 2015 12:04:20 +0000
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