COMFORT ONE ANOTHER

Proclamation:

“Praise be to The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, The Father of compassion and The God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God.” 2 Corinthians 1:3-4 (NIV)

Explanation:

These are The Holy Spirit inspired words of the Apostle Paul which were written in a letter to the believers in Corinth and to the scattered believers everywhere.  Paul said that all comfort ultimately comes from God, The Father.  He told them that God comforts them so that they could pass it on and comfort others who are in trouble.  Comfort, like blessings, were meant to be shared, passed on, and given to others.

Application:

The "us" and "we" that Paul was referring to was himself and Timothy, but there are those of us that believe that it applies to all Christians as well.  The Holy Spirit of God is The Comforter. (John 14:16 and 14:26)  As we receive comfort from God, we are to share it with others, just as we are to do with the blessings that we receive.  In the mist of our sufferings and troubles God comforts and strengthens us and gives us courage.  We are therefore to offer words of encouragement to others to comfort and strengthen them in their times of sufferings and trouble.  A kind word or two of encouragement or an appropriate verse from The Bible can really help someone.  However, providing comfort is not always only in the words we speak, often we can comfort others by just being there with them.  Our physical presence is often valued more than the words we speak.  We learn how to comfort others by providing them with the same comfort which we received when we were going through our trials, troubles and tribulations.  Let us demonstrate our love for one another by caring and sharing our blessings and by comforting one another as we were comforted.