{"type":"rich","version":"1.0","provider_name":"Transistor","provider_url":"https://transistor.fm","author_name":"First Day","title":"2 Corinthians 7: Good Grief ","html":"","width":"100%","height":180,"duration":861,"description":"(NRSV, 1989)2 Make room in your hearts for us; we have wronged no one, we have corrupted no one, we have taken advantage of no one. 3 I do not say this to condemn you, for I said before that you are in our hearts, to die together and to live together. 4 I often boast about you; I have great pride in you; I am filled with consolation; I am overjoyed in all our affliction.Paul’s relationship with the Corinthians has been a strained one. In fact, all of the letters that have preceded this one—the ones we have and the ones we don’t—have been critical of the quality of their walk with the Lord. If you recall from the introduction, this letter—or at least this part of it—is Paul’s response to the good news that he received from Titus that there had been a turnaround, of sorts.Here, Paul asks the congregation to open its heart to him. He tells them that nothing he has said to them has been false, nor was it condemn them—nor has he taken advantage of or led astray any of them. He reminds them that he wrote these things out of his love and empathy for the sake of togetherness: “…for I said before that you are in our hearts, to die together and to live together.” He feels a deeply for them as any person can feel for another. He loves them so much that he is even “overjoyed in all [his] affliction.” He doesn’t bemoan his suffering for their sakes, yet they had begun to exact a heavy toll.5 For even when we came into Macedonia, our bodies had no rest, but we were afflicted in every way—disputes without and fears within. 6 But God, who consoles the downcast, consoled us by the arrival of Titus, 7 and not only by his coming, but also by the consolation with which he was consoled about you, as he told us of your longing, your mourning, your zeal for me, so that I rejoiced still more.Paul was in Macedonia because Titus has failed to show-up whilst he was in Troas; the apostle became worried and decided to go on to Macedonia after preaching there. When he arrived in the province,...","thumbnail_url":"https://img.transistorcdn.com/QuQW_cZXSsuBMOigLtAJwx1STWkIimOEzRB22DVXWLI/rs:fill:0:0:1/w:400/h:400/q:60/mb:500000/aHR0cHM6Ly9pbWct/dXBsb2FkLXByb2R1/Y3Rpb24udHJhbnNp/c3Rvci5mbS9zaG93/LzMwOC8xNTM2OTc2/NTk0LWFydHdvcmsu/anBn.webp","thumbnail_width":300,"thumbnail_height":300}