Comfort Shared
We can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God. 2 Corinthians 1:4
READ 2 Corinthians 1:3–8
When my daughter Hayley came to visit me, I
saw her three-year-old son, Callum, wearing a strange piece of clothing.
Called a ScratchMeNot, it’s a long-sleeved top with mittens attached to
the sleeves. My grandson Callum suffers from chronic eczema, a skin
disease that makes his skin itch, making it rough and sore. “The
ScratchMeNot prevents Callum from scratching and injuring his skin,”
Hayley explained.
Seven months later, Hayley’s skin flared up, and she couldn’t stop
scratching. “I now understand what Callum endures,” Hayley confessed to
me. “Maybe I should wear a ScratchMeNot!”
Hayley’s situation reminded me of 2 Corinthians 1:3–5, in which Paul
says that our God is “the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our
troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort
we ourselves receive from God. For just as we share abundantly in the
sufferings of Christ, so also our comfort abounds through Christ.”
Sometimes God allows us to go through trying times such as an
illness, loss, or crisis. He teaches us through our suffering to
appreciate the greatest suffering that Christ went through on our behalf
on the cross. In turn, when we rely on Him for comfort and strength,
we’re able to comfort and encourage others in their suffering. Let’s
reflect on whom we can extend comfort to because of what God has brought
us through.
By Goh Bee Lee ( ゲスト寄稿者 ) |
Whom has God helped you to comfort through
your own experiences of suffering? What can you do to help them
appreciate Christ’s suffering on the cross through their pain?
God, help me to experience Your comfort in my sufferings and to become a source of comfort to others.
Read more about comforting others. | | | | |
SCRIPTURE INSIGHT
The Greek word for “comfort” in 2 Corinthians 1:3 (paraklesis) means “coming alongside to help or encourage.” Jesus is our parakletos or advocate (1 John 2:1). The Holy Spirit is another parakletos
(John 14:16–17, 26; 15:26; 16:7). This word is so rich in meaning that
Bible translations and paraphrases use various words to translate it:
“Helper” (esv), “Counselor” (niv 1984), “Comforter” (kjv), “Companion” (ceb), and “Friend” (the message). In 2 Corinthians 1:3, Paul says that God is the parakletos
par excellence—“the Father of compassion and the God of all
comfort.” It’s of great comfort to us that every person of the Triune
God—the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit—are with us in our pain. In
directing us to look at the “God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ”
(v. 3), Paul reminds us that coming alongside to help each other is a
family duty and privilege (v. 4).
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