2 Corinthians 7

http://www.esvbible.org/2+Corinthians+7/

Right away in this chapter, Paul says that we need to cleanse ourselves from what contaminates the body and spirit. We have a pretty good idea from the earlier books what these things are, but for some of what seem to be "gray areas" we have the Holy Spirit to tell us what in our lives is contaminating us. Then, after we do that, we are to live a holy life in fear of God. We can only do this after we cleanse ourselves as we learned in chapter 6. It is intimidating that Paul, one of the greatest theologians commands that we live holy lives because we know that we are inherently designed to screw up. What Paul really wants is for us to TRY to live holy lives. We need to actively seek to eliminate sin from our lives, and when we mess up, that's where God's grace comes in. If we choose to mess up and cite God's grace as to why it's okay, we may not be living as fully in God's grace as we may hope.

Paul tells the Church at Corinth again to open their hearts to him. He says he's felt terrible inside and out ever since he reached Macedonia. Paul and those with him suffer, conflict, and fear. Additionally, they feel abandoned by those that they have ministered to. When we come to accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior, we become a member of the family of God. When we do, all of the other believers are our brothers and sisters in Christ. We should love them and care for them as we would our natural born siblings. When one of them goes through a situation like Paul and calls out for help and comfort, then we should be there to assist because it should break our hearts as much as it's breaking theirs. Paul said God, who was comforting him all along, brought him the greatest comfort in the news that the Corinthians were rooting for him. Sometimes we may stay away from these situations because they make us feel uncomfortable, but if we feel distressed in a godly way, it means we are doing well because this should push us to do what God would want us to ad comfort the person in need. At times, we find ourselves in situations in which we are distressed in a godly way, but this is always good because this kind of distress leads to a change in the way we act and can save us. When we find ourselves feeling that way, it may be God pointing to a place in our lives in which He wants us to change and by doing so we can strengthen or repair or start our relationship with Him that will save us for eternity. Distress can cause us to devote ourselves further to the word, and by doing so, we can become disgusted by what we do. We can be afraid by this. We then seek out those in spiritual need and help each other through the situation. We can pick up things in these devotions out of distress that the hurting person may not have seen or hear the Holy Spirit talk of what God has planned. All of that can bring comfort to the hurting person.