154 Thrive Deeper: 2 Corinthians 1-9

The church at Corinth had recently been struggling with divisions and quarrels which Paul had dealt with in his first letter. Now in this second letter, Paul felt the need to articulate a defense of his apostleship and his message. Some in the church had apparently taken his meekness among them to be a sign of moral weakness or lack of authority. Paul argued that he was of equal stature and importance as the other apostles, that he had deep knowledge of the Christian faith, that he had suffered profound physical punishment in the name of Christ, and that he had received visions and revelations from God. The message for us today is clear: living in unity requires us to humbly forgive one another and to follow our leaders. Second Corinthians reminds us that even as Christians, we hurt each other and need to forgive those who wrong us.