PASS IT ON

PASS IT ON

READ:

2 Corinthians 1:3-7

As you are partakers of the

sufferings, so also you will

partake of the consolation.

-2 Corinthians 1:7

I’ve noticed through the years that those who have suffered are quick to comfort other sufferers.  When a young couple suffers the loss of a child, another couple who also lost a child in the past asks if they can help.  If a couple loses their main income, almost immediately another couple steps forward to offer their aid, remembering their own journey through foreclosure years earlier.  Again and again we see the body of Christ supporting and encouraging one another.  These Christians have learned that they can use the trials they’ve been through to reach out to others going through similar difficulties.

Have you been sick?  Lost a loved one?  Been imprisoned?  Unfairly treated?  In all of our trials, God promises to bring something good out of even our darkest moments (James 1:2-4).  One key way this takes place is when we share the comfort He offered us with those who are now going through trials.

As Paul points out in 2 Corinthians 1:3-7, we are comforted by a Savior who knows our suffering, and we honor Him when we pass His comfort on to still others.

May we never leave someone to suffer alone.  If we know the trail another is on, God will help us to guide that person to His presence-the surest comfort of all. –Randy Kilgore

Dear Lord, help us to step forward when

Others around us are suffering trials similar to

What we’ve been through.  Enable us to be a

Comfort, as You have been to us in the past.

****************************************

God comforts us so that we can comfort others.

INSIGHT

In the New Testament, we have Paul’s letters to the church at Corinth.  Although the letters were written to the same congregation, they are very different in tone and content.  In 1 Corinthians, the apostle is primarily concerned with addressing problems in the church (such as factions, lawsuits between believers, marriage and divorce concerns, and more) and affirming the doctrine of the resurrection.  In 2 Corinthians, however, the apostle defends his ministry.  In the process, he shares the variety of things he has suffered in the service of Christ (2 Corinthians 4; 11-12).  One church, two very different letters.