2 Corinthians 7:13b-16 (HCSB)
In addition to our comfort, we rejoiced even more over the joy Titus had, because his spirit was refreshed by all of you. For if I have made any boast to him about you, I have not been embarrassed; but as I have spoken everything to you in truth, so our boasting to Titus has also turned out to be the truth. And his affection toward you is even greater as he remembers the obedience of all of you, and how you received him with fear and trembling. I rejoice that I have complete confidence in you.
Titus’ report of the repentance of the Corinthians warmed Paul’s heart and reassured him that he had assessed their situation correctly. But Titus’ report of how he was received by the Church there encouraged him even more.
Even though the Corinthians were at times a bit fractious, Paul had assured Titus that they loved the Lord, and that they would love him as a representative of the Lord. And that is just the way things had turned out. Titus had been warmly received, and his heart had been encouraged by those he had gone to see.
This had not only relieved Titus, who was not sure what kind of reception was waiting for him, but in the short time he had spent with the Corinthians, he had grown to love them. His heart had not only been encouraged, it had been warmed. He now considered the Corinthian Christians brothers and sisters in Christ, and coworkers in God’s Kingdom.
Paul had been nervous, preoccupied, even a bit nervous about the news he would hear from Titus. But now he is simply encouraged, relieved, and full of joy that things will be able to be restored, and that the work of the Kingdom in and around Corinth will be able to move forward.
Father, confrontation is never easy, and we can go into it full of fear of the outcome, even if we are in the right. But if things are wrong, the confrontation must happen. To ignore it or just let things slide will most likely result in further deterioration, and a harder outcome when the confrontation can no longer be avoided. Help me, Lord, to move boldly forward when confrontation is genuinely needed, to always confront humbly and in love, and to trust you for the outcome. Amen.