October 2, 2022
Daily Devotion:
"The Depth of a Love"
2 Corinthians 2:4
New International Version
4 For I wrote you out of great distress and anguish of heart and with many tears, not to grieve you but to let you know the depth of my love for you.
We have all experienced that classic line from our parents: "This hurts me more than it does you." Naturally, few of us on the receiving end ever really believed it, but with time and maturity we grew to appreciate the truth behind the sentiment. Today's featured passage follows in the same vein. Master of finesse that he was, Paul was not reticent in calling the Corinthians on the carpet. The letter we know as 1 Corinthians is a stinger! No wonder we find 2 Corinthians more conciliatory. Paul wants the Corinthians to know that he has rebuked them solely out of love and concern for their souls not out of anger or as revenge against those who have questioned his apostleship. Just as the doctor sometimes has to hurt us to heal us, Paul knew he had no real option but to lance the boil. So what do we do when we find ourselves having to forcefully confront someone we love for their own good? Whether we call it rebuke, intervention, or admonition, it is never without pain to ourselves as well as to the target of our loving arrows. Maybe this partially explains why we exercise what has been termed “tough love" less often than we probably should. It is enough that we are hesitant to sit in judgment of another, knowing our own faults. But we also know that calling someone to task is rarely appreciated, even by those who ought to know that love is our only motivation. So are we simply to stand by and watch someone we love self-destruct, or must we not take action against all instinct? Sometimes hurting the one we love is truly the greatest love.
The tougher question is: If I can sometimes dish out tough love when necessary, how do I take tough love when I'm on the receiving end?
