June.06.01: Light For The Day - "Care Enough" -- 2 Corinthians 2:1-4 (NLT) "So I said to myself, "No, I won’t do it.  I won’t make them unhappy with another painful visit." 2 For if I cause you pain and make you sad,  who is going to make me glad? 3 That is why I wrote as I did in my last letter,  so that when I do come, I will not be made sad by  the very ones who ought to give me the greatest joy.  Surely you know that my happiness depends on  your happiness.  4 How painful it was to write that letter! Heartbroken,  I cried over it. I didn’t want to hurt you,  but I wanted you to know how very much I love you." ------------------------- Sometime ago David Augsburger wrote an excellent  book called Caring Enough to Confront. In it he showed  that if we really care about others, we will be willing to  confront them when their actions call for it. Paul, who cared enough to confront the Corinthians in  his first letter, shows us here just how to go about confronting. First, he confronted to avoid a greater grief that would  otherwise distort their relationship (v. 1). Confronting is  a way to keep relationships strong and warm, for things  left unmentioned can bring grief. Second, his goal was not to hurt but to heal (v. 2).  Confrontation works only when your motive is to help the  other person. Don’t think you can confront in anger or  antagonism. Your hostility will come through more strongly  than any of your words. Third, he expected a positive response. It takes a large  dose of trust in others to free us to confront. Paul’s trust  had solid roots in his faith in God. He knew God was at  work in his brothers and sisters. God would use his  blunt words to help them and to heal. Finally, Paul hurt with the Corinthians as he confronted  them. He wrote “out of great distress and anguish of  heart and with many tears” (v. 4). Confrontation must  grow out of and be an expression of love. You need to  hurt along with the person you confront. Your pain will  prove your love, and move the other person to respond. Do you care enough to confront others when they go wrong?  If you do, be sure your confrontation is marked by a desire  to deepen the relationship, by love, by positive expections -- and by personal grief and pain. -- Lawrence O' Richard ------------------------ -- 2 Corinthians 7:8,9 (NLT) "For even if I made you sorry with my letter,  I do not regret it (though I did regret it), for I see that  that letter grieved you, though only for a while. 9 As it is, I rejoice, not because you were grieved,  but because you were grieved into repenting;  for you felt a godly grief,  so that you suffered no loss through us."