11 Finally, brothers, rejoice! Be perfected. Be comforted. Be of the same mind. Live in peace, and the God of love and peace will be with you. 12 Greet one another with a holy kiss.

In Paul’s parting words to the church in Corinth, he exhorts them to live together in harmony and peace. God’s formula for church behavior is pretty straightforward. We are to be joyful with one another. This includes celebrating each others’ victories. We should never be like the world in which competition is the rule. We’re not in competition with others in the church. We’re on the same team! We are to conduct ourselves in a mature way. That’s what is meant here by being “perfect.” Nobody’s perfect in the usual sense of the word. And when we rejoice together and walk in maturity, we will be comforted. You might wonder, “comforted from what?” Comforted from the way the world beats us up, chews us up, and spits us out. Life is hard and the world around us doesn’t make it any easier. There is that boss who is never pleased with anything you do. There is the guy on the expressway who knew you were coming up the on-ramp and cut you off anyway. The list goes on and on.

The church should be very different from the world. We should be of the same mind. This brings peace to the fellowship. I recall a time years ago when we had a conflict with a couple in our small Baptist church. When things were reaching a boiling point, he told me, “Well, I’m more of a Presbyterian than a Baptist anyway!” In a subsequent meeting, my wife asked them, “If you guys are so unhappy here, then why do you stay here?” Their answer was telling. One of them, and I can’t remember which, said to us, “Sometimes God sends you somewhere to straighten people out.” No friend, don’t go somewhere to “straighten things out.” Choose a piece of the Body of Christ in which you can be productive and where you are of the “same mind” as others. That will bring peace to your own heart as well as to the fellowship of believers with whom you worship. Paul says that we, as church members, should rejoice together, act with maturity, and do our best to be of one mind. This brings peace to yourself and to the group. These are Paul’s final words to this problematic church in Corinth, and they are a good word for us as well, regardless of where we worship.

Paul had sent a harsh word to the Corinthians, and afterwards, he wondered whether or not it was the right thing to do. His motive was to correct them lovingly. It wasn’t to make them grieve. They received his letter and they wept over their condition. Paul wrote it to bring them to repentance, and they received the news, making changes in their lives and in their church. When a believer is sorrowful about some sin in their life and they repent of it, it brings about life. It helps to draw them back into the will of God and into Christlike behavior. Because of his love for them and his prior visits, Paul had laid the foundation of a good relationship, and he had the standing to write such a letter.

When I was about forty years old, I moved to a new community. I had just suffered a terrible personal blow that resulted in the loss of a company which my wife and I had started and built. We were pushed out of the business by younger partners. It was a tremendous blow to both of us, but it had a particularly profound impact on me. Often, a man wrongfully looks to his work to find his value and worth, and his identity. It’s a long story and doesn’t need to be retold here, but it hurt my pride and affected my psyche. As I joined a small men’s group in my new community, I shared my wound, and frankly, it dominated my thoughts and much of my conversation. I was always talking about myself to try, I suppose, to convince myself and others that I had value and worth after letting some other guys get the best of me. One day, one of the brothers in the small group took me aside and said to me, “You just love talking about yourself.” OUCH! I grieved at those words. I didn’t consciously realize it, but my subconscious self knew it was true, and I was devastated. I had become one of those pitiful people who always have to have the better story or be at the center of the conversation. I needed correction, and this brother gently pointed out a wrong that needed to be corrected. He had listened to me for many hours, and he had earned the right to give me a harsh letter, wrapped up in some gentle words.

You may need a letter like this, or you may need to give one to someone. Make sure that if you do, you have spent the time with that person to lay a good foundation. Speak to them in gentle words that help them to see the error of their ways and give them a clear path to walk out of it. People often talk about themselves due to insecurity. They don’t think much of themselves, so they overcompensate by trying to build themselves up in the eyes of others. Old wounds affect us greatly. If you can’t get past them, they will affect what you think, do, and say. The enemy uses them to distort us and causes us to focus on ourselves. Be open to correction, and if you need to correct a brother or a sister, lay the foundation, and do so with the greatest of love. If you do, it can bring life back to them. Paul had done so with the Corinthians, and they received the news, changed their behavior, and rejoiced.

Copyright © 2026 Faber F McMullen III. All rights reserved.