Be a Little Better Today

Be of good comfort, be of one mind, live in peace; and the God of love and peace shall be with you
~ 2 Corinthians 13:11 ~

We are all in this together, all of us, and we have a great work to do. Every teacher can be a better teacher than he or she is today. Every officer can be a better officer than he or she is today. Every father can be a better father. Every mother can be a better mother. Every husband can be a better husband, every wife a better wife, every child a better child. We are on the road that leads to immortality and eternal life and today is a part of it. Let us never forget it.

I love how the Complete Jewish Study Bible renders 2 Corinthians 13:11:

And now, brothers, shalom! Put yourselves in order, pay attention to my advice, be of one mind, live in shalom – and the God of love and shalom will be with you.

Put yourselves in order and pay attention to the Apostle Paul’s advice. This is quite an interesting understanding of the apostolic admonishment toward unity and harmony within our lives. The call is for unity and harmony. And not just to strive for unity and harmony in our lives – to become better in being unified and harmonious every day.

By this process, we become better individuals. Better families, better co-workers, better leaders, better managers, and improve our community for the better. There is so much disharmony and divisiveness in today’s society and culture.

And this is especially true when it comes to ministering to others when we have not put our own lives in order? There are some key spiritual truths here that I’d like to briefly share with you.

The full context of 2 Corinthians 13:11 is this: Finally, brethren, farewell. Be perfect, be of good comfort, be of one mind, live in peace; and the God of love and peace shall be with you.

There are four spiritual truths that Paul is sharing with the Christians at Corinth.

Be Perfect

There is much confusion on the idea of what it means to be perfect. When Christ ended his teachings on the beatitudes, He simply stated: Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect (Matthew 5:48).