3/8/17 - Wednesday - IBS - 2 Corinthians 13:11 - Finally, brothers, rejoice. Aim for restoration, comfort one another, agree with one another, live in peace; and the God of love and peace will be with you. 

Julie:

Paul is concluding his letter with five commands. Rejoice.  Restoration.  Comfort.  Agree.  Peace.  As he says in the verse before, these are commands given for building up and not tearing down.  Jesus walked with these traits.  And since Jesus is our cornerstone, these traits should be a part of our foundation.  If our foundation is not built on these traits, then whatever we build will have to be to torn down because it cannot withstand the weight the world puts on us.  These five commands are the materials that make up that cornerstone to keep us from being shaken.  And crazy enough, all five of these commands are not for our own building up but the building up of others.  Rejoice with others.  Restore others.  Comfort others.  Agree with others.  Be at peace with others.  So as we keep the foundation of our cornerstone as Christ-like, then we help others lay their foundation as a Christ-like one.  When two people come together that are both built on Jesus' solid foundation then they are stable enough to be in unity.  When a congregation comes together on the same foundation then there is unity and fellowship and there you see the body of Christ.  I know that I cannot take it upon myself to build someone up because they have the free will to listen or not, but what I can do is be a strong tower unto the Lord and let that be an example for anyone.