2 Corinthians 12:19 · World English Bible
2 Corinthians 12:19 Meaning Again
Again, do you think that we are excusing ourselves to you? In the sight of God we speak in Christ. But all things, beloved, are for your edifying.
What does 2 Corinthians 12:19 mean?
It is tender work to be misheard as defending oneself when the whole aim was to help. The snare here is that itch to be seen as right, which quietly turns a gift into a performance.
From the Sufism reading below.
2 Corinthians 12:19 through 1 lens
The same verse, read by one tradition.
Sufism
SUFISM
Sufism
It is tender work to be misheard as defending oneself when the whole aim was to help. The snare here is that itch to be seen as right, which quietly turns a gift into a performance. The cure is to speak as if only God were listening, since He always is.
When a person forgets his own reputation and wants nothing but the good of the ones he loves, his words stop serving himself and start building them up. Every sentence becomes a place where the Giver, not the speaker, is met.
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Live 2 Corinthians 12:19 today
- Before you send the message you have been drafting in your head, read it once and cut every line that is there to make you look reasonable. What is left is usually the part that actually helps.
- When someone misreads you today, hears a defense where you meant care, resist setting the record straight right away. Ask what they need instead, and let your side wait a day.
- Do one helpful thing this week that nobody will trace back to you. No mention of it later, no leaving the receipt out where it can be found.
If nobody ever knew it was me, would I still want to say it this way?
The same truth in other traditions
Tao Te Ching 17
The best leader works so quietly that when the thing is done, the people say they did it themselves. The help lands and the helper does not sign it.
Bhagavad Gita 3
Do your work for its own sake and let go of what it earns you, including how it makes you look. Once the work is for the other person, your reputation stops steering your sentences.
Stoicism · Marcus Aurelius
He tells himself to do the good thing and not run around collecting witnesses for it, since the act was its own point. Needing to be seen as right turns a gift into a show.
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