Below are some thoughts and questions for personal reflection or group discussion.

1. Read Ephesians 4:29

Paul commands us to let no corrupting talk come out of our mouths but only what gives grace to fit the occasion. Can you recall a time – whether recently or long ago – when someone’s words were a pivotal means of God’s grace to you in a way that bore much fruit in your life? Do you think you give enough thought to the fact that your words have the power to corrupt or to be a means of God’s grace? Pray that the Lord would help us all be more aware of the power of our words and sensitive to what “fits the occasion.”

2. Read 1 Corinthians 1:4-9

Even though Paul would spend much of this letter to the church in Corinth addressing significant sins, he chose first to thank God for them – and even more importantly – he spoke of their conversion and he affirmed that God would be faithful to preserve them as “guiltless” to the very end (no doubt by the blood of Christ and the Holy Spirit’s work).

How do you think this would have made them feel? How do you think this prepared them to hear the corrections he brought later? What difference might it make for you to hear this promise more often? Pray that the Lord would help you to bring this promise to other brothers and sisters as often as you can.

3. Read 2 Corinthians 1:3-6

Paul said that one of the reasons for his sufferings and the comfort he received from God was so that he could comfort others in their sufferings with the comfort he had received from God in his suffering.

How do you think Paul’s view of suffering affects your perspective on your own suffering? Can you share a time when someone’s comfort in your suffering was especially helpful? Share what effect that had on you and consider why that was. Pray for the Lord to bring comfort to you in areas of your suffering as well as the suffering of others whom you know. Pray that the Lord would help you see your suffering as a (perhaps yet future) means of grace for others.