Open Wide Your Hearts Also

Paul defends his ministry by letting the Corinthians see how his life backs his truth in Christ. Why did he need to do so? Because many false accusations were being levelled at him personally and at his ministry and he needed to regain his credibility and their trust in him. Obviously, Satan was trying to twist the minds of the Corinthian disciples, so that -as they would lose faith in him, they would lose faith in God’s message through him, and then eventually be easily enticed into false teachings. Sounds familiar?

Look at how they went down this path: they started believing the false accusations against Paul, and started mistrusting him, and then began doubting his message -God’s message of salvation! We ourselves are very susceptible to these schemes. We let doubts, ungodly thoughts and attitudes toward our leaders, brothers and sisters, and the Church brew in our hearts, until we find ourselves resentful and bitter, allowing Satan to have power over our hearts.

As Paul cries out “do not be deceived”, and tries to win back their confidence, he makes a personal plea, filled with sincere emotion and love: to “open wide your hearts also”, as he did his. He immediately follows this with the appeal to not be yoked with unbelievers. We find that when we start pulling away from the church family, we start moving towards the world and unbelievers. Then we start compromising and condoning their world views, then thinking the way they do, and eventually behaving as they do. Let us not go down this path. Let us come together and discuss our issues, through humble discussion and biblical inquiry. Let us get rid of our doubts (by asking, not assuming), think the best of one another, and choose to open our hearts wide. Let’s have Paul’s heart when he said, “I am fully convinced, my dear brothers and sisters, that you are full of goodness.” (Romans 15:14 NLT) So, let’s open our hearts wide.