“Finally, brothers, rejoice. Aim for restoration, comfort one another, agree with one another, live in peace; and the God of love and peace will be with you.”

Several years ago, I took up the game of golf. While on the tee box preparing to swing away on hole number four, a more experienced golfer in our group said, “Lane, if you want to stop slicing your ball, you’re going to have to adjust the way you stand and you’re going to have to aim your club right, so the ball can move in the direction that you want it to go!” After I adjusted my stance and started aiming my clubs right, I was able to hit the golf ball straight  more than ever. Not to mention, I lost less golf balls by making those changes.

In II Corinthians 13:11, Paul calls for the church at Corinth in sort of a summary fashion to adjust their stance towards one another and to aim right by making necessary changes to repair and mend their broken relationships. In previous writings to the church at Corinth, Paul addressed the disunity and discord that was breaking apart their relationships. By the time that Paul writes this letter, many of them had repented and made amends with one another, but not all had don so!

Therefore, Paul dropped these five imperatives on them; rejoice, aim for restoration, comfort one another, agree with one another and live in harmony or peace with one another. The phrase “aim for restoration” in the Greek carried the idea of repairing nets that had split apart. Paul is instructing the church at Corinth to set their aim on repairing their relationships that had been split apart by their disagreement over leadership, sexual misconduct, dietary laws and spiritual gifts superiority.

Our relationships with God and each other must be of utmost importance and it must become evident in our willingness to love, forgive, support, pursue peace and mend split relationships not just in the church in particular but in our circles of contacts in general. What relationships in your life need to be restored or mended? Heed Paul’s command to mend your differences and live in peace.

God help me to set aside sinful pride, pettiness and arrogance and do the hard and messy work of mending broken relationships in my various communities. And God help me to be at peace and not wallow in guilt knowing that I made every effort to mend the broken relationships on my end, Amen!

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