Finally, brothers and sisters, rejoice! Strive for full restoration, encourage one another, be of one mind, live in peace. And the God of love and peace will be with you.  May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.

2 Corinthians 13:11, 14

This is one of Paul’s earliest letters.  It ends with an encouraging word, “Strive for full restoration.”  This probably refers to Paul’s encouragement to the brothers and sisters in Christ in Corinth, that great Roman city, to simply lean heavily on Jesus as they build the community of faith there.

But before this word, Paul encourages the believers to rejoice.   He may have in mind their new status in Jesus Christ, believers in Jesus and all that God has done through them. He is not calling them to judge one another, but to rejoice – every believer!

Being one in Christ opens marvelous doors to peace and unity.  “Be of one mind.”  Not one culture, but one “mind.”  The believers in Corinth were a mixed lot, Jews, Gentiles, etc.  In Jesus they can find true unity.  That enables them to live together as one body of believers in that great Roman city. He reminds them that the God they worship is a God of love and peace.

All of this possible because of the grace of God that is there for all.

This closing word of Paul is for us today, especially me!  I am a blessed part of the new thing on the earth, the body of Jesus Christ.