God’s Abiding Love & Peace

2Corinthians 13:1-14 

Friday, 14 August 2026

“Finally, brethren, rejoice, be made complete, be comforted, be like-minded, live in peace; and the God of love and peace will be with you.” 2 Corinthians 13:11

2 Corinthians is the second epistle to the church in Corinth, which inspired by the Holy Spirit was to deal with certain prevailing situations and which address similar issues that may exist in any church anywhere throughout the centuries! The “epistles” by various authors to various churches and individuals (Romans, Corinthians, Galatian, etc) always dealt with specific issues pertaining to each Church or person as well as expounded various spiritual truths for the nurturing of Christ’s body. Therefore, the epistles are treasure houses for Churches at any age for spiritual building up and discipline!

2^nd Corinthians is the most autobiographical of Paul’s letters and probably the most difficult letter that Paul had to write [NKJV Study Bible]. Paul was dealing with various forms of sin in the Church at Corinth – sexual immorality, insubordination, misuse of spiritual gifts (the list in 2Cor.12:21). In 2Corinthians, Paul’s apostolic authority is defended as certain false teachers were searching whether “Christ was speaking through Paul.”

Even in the midst of all the issues that were prevailing at Corinth, Paul loved them and was jealous of them! He did not want them to be deceived by the craftiness of the devil! In the below verse Paul laments of their unrepentant attitude! 2 Cor.12:21: “I am afraid that when I come again my God may humiliate me before you, and I may mourn over many of those who have sinned in the past and not repented of the impurity, immorality and sensuality which they have practiced.”

It is very important to note the attitude of Paul being a leader and mentor – he is not condemning them - but correcting them and keeping a very optimistic attitude that they will come back to their senses! Weoften see people, especially leaders, getting frustrated when the people they mentor don’t show any signs of growth and maturity. His critics criticized Paul and even questioned the Lord working through Paul!! This would be very painful for a man of God who went through extremes of persecution as well as spiritual experiences (such as visions, revelations, operation of gifts and miracles etc.) Paul is not a new believer to be criticized this way. The Holy Spirit caused Paul to write these things for many in similar situations today, to be comforted – when you are up against such criticism, know that even Paul, the apostle went through it. Yet He did not lose heart but believed better things about them and kept a level head to correct them peacefully. 

In our key verse, notice Paul giving them a practical advice – the secret to ensure God’s love and peace to abide in their lives. It is very practical for us today. It is true that our God “who is love” extended His love to save us – and thus caused His divine peace to dwell in our hearts. But that is not enough – now we need to ensure the continuous presence of God’s love and peace in us! The type of behavior that we see in Corinthians is typical of a lost focus of the love of God and the resultant loss of His peace. Many behavioral problems that we see in several Christians today also sprout from a similar reason. They’ve lost their first love – therefore what rules their heart as Paul laments in the above verse “impurity, immorality and sensuality.”

The remedy is: rejoice, be made complete, be comforted, be like-minded, live in peace. If we practise these key things on a daily basis, God’s love and peace will continually abide in our lives!

Promise:  “ -  and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:7    

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