Made New

Now instead, you ought to forgive and comfort him, so that he will not be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow. I urge you, therefore, to reaffirm your love for him. 2nd Corinthians 2:7-8

In 2nd Corinthians 2 Paul is writing about a man in the Corinthian church who had been spreading rumors about Paul and challenging his apostleship. Paul had forgiven the man but was disappointed that this man had not received any support from the other members. The church realized their fault and reprimanded the man. The man was repentant but the church would not truly forgive him. In verse 7 Paul says to the church, “forgive and comfort him; otherwise this one may be overwhelmed by excessive grief. Therefore I urge you to reaffirm your love to him.

I have always liked taking something old, like a piece of furniture and sanding off all the old stains and finding out what the wood looked like when it was built. I remember refinishing the cabinets in our old house a few years ago. I have a tendency to overdo a project so before I started I was saying to myself, “just sand over them a little, you don’t have to get down to the bare wood”. I can never stop and I sand it down to where it looks like the wood is fresh from the lumber yard. I like to find out what is underneath the junk and there is something good about getting rid of the old and making something new and beautiful. Something that is old, but has been given “new” life is always prettier than something that is just new. After something is sanded back to its original look, it is always amazing how beautiful the wood is. I always regret having to cover it up again with something fake. As I think about our lives and our walk with Jesus, it is often difficult to get rid of the old. God created us as a new being but over time the world has left stains on us that hide the true beauty of what we are made of. We often try to remove a few of the ugly stains, but we try to hold onto a little of the old. The ugly part that we leave only ruins the look of the new. When I refinished our old cabinets, I wanted my wife to walk in and be amazed at what I had done. The only way I could make sure they looked new was to get rid of all the old. I sanded for hours and even spent about a week without fingerprints. I wanted to remove all the dents and marks that were left from years of wear and tear. If I had sanded a little of the old stain away and left the dents, the new paint would have only been a temporary cover of what was old. The ugly would have eventually shown back through. Sometimes in our lives, we have to ask God to return us to what he has planned for us. He promises to remove the dents and marks and cover us with a beautiful color that shows off what He has created.

I prayed today for God to restore me to what He has for my life. It is very easy to lose track of why I am here and who I am here to serve. He has an awesome plan for each of us and He gives us the tools we need. Allow Him to make you new and to remove all the dents and stains.

Chad