II Corinthians 2:5-9

II Corinthians 2

5 Now if anyone has caused pain, he has caused it not to me, but in some measure—not to put it too severely—to all of you.

6 For such a one, this punishment by the majority is enough,

7 so you should rather turn to forgive and comfort him, or he may be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow.

8 So I beg you to reaffirm your love for him.

9 For this is why I wrote, that I might test you and know whether you are obedient in everything.

In this passage, Paul is addressing the church in Corinth about forgiveness. He is warning against excessive discipline. There are still consequences, but he instructs believers to forgive, comfort and love the one who made the mistake. The mistake Paul is referring to was probably a pretty severe one. It caused pain, and apparently the church had rejected the person responsible.

We all make mistakes. We all mess up. But many times, when ‘big’ mistake are made public, we tend to alienate that person from the group. Maybe the offense was against you personally. Maybe it was a sin of immorality like the one in Corinth probably was. Maybe the person slipped completely from their walk with God for a time.

Regardless of the mistake, we as the body of Christ have a responsibility. Restoration. Paul writes that forgiveness and comfort are mandatory so that the person is not overwhelmed by excessive sorrow. Not so that the person doesn’t become sorry, they should be. But so that they aren’t overwhelmed with the hopeless feeling that they will never again be ‘good enough’ to be accepted by the church or Christians again.

Paul says reaffirm your love for them. Let them know that the past is forgotten and that you want the best for them. Maybe you want to hold onto your anger, pain, frustration, or sadness. Not only are you doing a disservice to yourself (forgiveness is commanded and not doing so can impede your relationship with God); but you are also hurting the person that made the mistake. Verse 11 in this same passage says that forgiveness and restoration is necessary lest we be outwitted by Satan. Unforgiveness, anger, and ostracizing people from the church are devices used by Satan to keep you and them stagnant in your relationships with God.

Choosing not to forgive? Not giving another chance? Not loving, encouraging, and edifying those who wronged you in the past? You are allowing Satan to win… Forgive. Comfort. Reaffirm in love.