Verse By Verse Devotional On 2 Corinthians By Pastor Jack #39

The Agonizing Rebuker

2:4 "For out of much affliction and anguish of heart I wrote to you with many tears; not so that you would be made sorrowful, but that you might know the love which I have especially for you."

Paul is describing the anguish of soul he experienced while writing the "severe letter" to the Corinthians. This should alert us to the fact that grief should always be a part of our rebuking. Those who ENJOY rebuking or find it FUN to inflict pain on other people are not speaking for Christ.

There is, of course, in each of us an impulse to hate and hurt others. As Jesus made clear in the Sermon on the Mount, there is murder in each of our hearts (Matt.5:21-22). Not one of us is free from it. And it can easily crop up disguised as righteous indignation. In our flesh all of us love to hate, reject, condemn and look down on others. We must see this for what it is or we will be hating in the name of Christ. (Yes, I know there is a Biblical hatred, but that’s not what I’m talking about here.)

There is a time to kill, as Eccl.3 says, but not to enjoy killing. There certainly is a time to hurt, but not to get pleasure from hurting. When it is the time to hurt someone, it should be done "out of much affliction and anguish of heart."

It’s easier to harden our hearts toward the ones who need to be hurt. That way it spares us the pain. But the pain of feeling the other person’s pain is as necessary as the pain of the rebuke itself.

Rebuking is supposed to hurt the rebuker, not just the rebukee. If it doesn’t, there’s something very wrong. If it’s done out of love, it hurts the rebuker because he knows he’s causing the rebukee pain, even though he deems it to be necessary and redemptive pain.

Paul did not regret the pain he had inflicted upon the Corinthian believers by his letter, but he still hated to do it. Like a parent hates to put a child through painful surgery, though it may be very necessary, piercing spiritual surgery had to be done on the Corinthians, and Paul’s love compelled him to do so with his sharp letter.

Our agony also helps the rebukee see that the rebuke is given in love. So it is necessary not only to feel anguish when we must speak sharply to others, but also to communicate that anguish, as Paul does here.

O dear Father, thank You that You are out for my welfare and not for my demise. Thank You that You send discipline not because You like to see me in pain, but because it is necessary for my growth and purification. Please give me Your compassion and love when it is necessary for me to rebuke another person. May my approach make it clear that I come in righteous love and not in unrighteous anger.