lifefullyinhabited

2 Corinthians 1:5-7

New International Version (NIV)

⁵ For just as we share abundantly in the sufferings of Christ,^(A) so also our comfort abounds through Christ. ⁶ If we are distressed, it is for your comfort and salvation;^(B) if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which produces in you patient endurance of the same sufferings we suffer. ⁷ And our hope for you is firm, because we know that just as you share in our sufferings,^(C) so also you share in our comfort.

My son told me recently “You can’t change the world, but you can change lives.”

That has stuck with me. 

In my reading through the bible in ten years plan, I’m mulling through the book of 2 Corinthians right now.  I’m not a theologian.  I’m not a bible expert.  I just read and pray and think about things.

So it seems to me that what these verses are saying is that everyone suffers.

I may not be an expert, but it seems to me that everyone suffers because the world is broken.  All the systems of human governance and justice are broken, corrupt, unfixable.

Some people may feel called to take on the job of fixing all that mess.  I’m not one of them.

I can’t fix a broken world.

But I can offer a dose of comfort and compassion to the next broken person that comes into my life.

Because I’ve lived in this broken world, I have suffered.  My suffering and patient endurance qualifies me to pass on what I have been blessed to receive.  Comfort and compassion.

Maybe a few words of wisdom.  A hug, a smile.

People who come across my path have sometimes been bashed around by the worst that humanity has to offer.  At least I can offer something of the best that humanity has to offer.

I can listen.  I can pray.  I can try to understand.

Maybe if we all tried to do that, we could start changing the world by changing one life at a time.