Seventh Day Baptist
Christian Education Council
PO BOX 1678
Janesville, WI 53547
—2 Corinthians 2:5-11
by: Jasmine Lynch.
Discouragement, disbelief, and distrust are tools of the devil to rob us of our joy in serving each other. Paul’s exhortation was for us to restore our fellow believers lest they be overcome with grief “and be swallowed up with too much sorrow” (v.7, NKJV). Discipline is sometimes needed in the body of Christ and when inflicted by the majority on one person, it is a sufficient reprimand. But Paul’s point was that we should not leave our brother in that state. We need to forgive, comfort, reaffirm our love, and console the offender to prevent discouragement from setting in.