Providing Comfort for Others

Scripture: If we are distressed, it is for your comfort and salvation; if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which produces in you patient endurance of the same sufferings we suffer. 2 Corinthians 1:6

Observation: Paul opens his letter to the church in Corinth with first a blessing of compassion and comfort, then a note about recent hardships he went through in Asia Minor when he almost died (perhaps Lystra?). However, in between he makes this comment about the nature of distress, suffering, and comfort. Paul's logic is interesting and yet simple. Our job as Christians - part of the "love one another" command of Jesus, if you will - is to comfort each other. It is a topic upon which Jesus speaks often, actually, that of mourning with each other comforting those who are sad and distressed. However, in just a few words, Paul discusses an interesting dynamic of how comforting works.

Paul first creates context. We all find ourselves in distress, and the Lord comforts us. Our faith in Jesus and belief in salvation is a comfort, and so we receive comfort and therefore know what it feels like. It is this comfort we should pay forward to others, reminding them of the same comfort they have in Christ and giving them our empathy. However, how does comfort ... help? Well, comfort helps in two ways.

First, when we are in distress, the comforting support of another person gives us ... comfort. It sooths our troubles, and helps our mind in the immediate circumstance, perhaps removing the suffering.

Second, when we are distressed, that same comfort gives us ... endurance. It allows us to suffer with hope of a future and better circumstance, even while the suffering remains.

Application: I am not very good at offering comfort to others. I try ... but I don't do it well. Perhaps part of that is my own mindset about suffering and hardships, which is more along the lines that I just need to 'suck it up' and work through it, and thus I'm not a very good recipient of comfort so don't know how to pay it forward.

However, another reason I may struggle giving comfort is that I have never understood this duality of its purpose. It shows kindness in the immediate near-term, and hope for the future long-term. It doesn't do one or the other, but both at the same time. Or maybe ... it does one or the other, and it is important to understand which the individual needs. If they need long-term hope, it is not effective to give them short-term compassion, but if they need short-term emotional uplifting, it is not effective to talk about long-term outcomes.

I think the point is, comforting others is something I am supposed to be doing. My own experiences can help others, as it provides wisdom that may comfort others about how to endure hardships. This is something about which I likely need to become more transparent and caring for others.

Prayer: Lord, I ask for your guidance today. May my words and actions today not be for myself, but for others, and if that involves providing comfort and compassion, I am here to do it. Amen.