Scripture Notes: Examine Yourselves (2 Corinthians 13)

At the end of his second letter to the Corinthians, St. Paul both warns and commands. There have been problems in the Corinthian Church, sins and rivalries, disunity and liturgical abuse, pride and disdain for truth and goodness. And Paul is determined to correct this. He warns the Corinthians that if he comes to them again and the problems are still active, he will not spare them. He will deal firmly with them because, as a minister of Jesus Christ, he is capable of acting by the power of God, not to condemn them (although this is a risk if they fail to repent) but to bring them to conversion.

But Paul also commands the Corinthians to “Examine yourselves, to see whether you are holding to your faith. Test yourselves.” They need a reality check, and Paul knows all too well that they are the only ones who can truly administer it. They may or may not accept what he says. They may or may not receive the truth from his pen or his lips.  But they absolutely must discern the truth within themselves. They have to look closely at what they really believe and how they really act, not with the idea of excusing themselves or pretending or trying to shove reality in a corner somewhere and ignore it, but with sincerity and truth. 

This is not an easy task. It was not for the Corinthians, nor is it for us. In fact, it can be very painful to learn the truth about ourselves. Yet it is necessary. We need to be humble enough to know and admit that we sin all the time, that we are not yet the people God wants us to be, that we tend to hem and haw, to rationalize, to tell ourselves that we are not really that bad, that we are actually pretty good people overall, and that we do not have much to repent of. But it simply is not true, and if we obey Paul’s command to examine ourselves, and do so in all sincerity, we will see much more clearly. Then we will be able to go to God in prayer and to meet Him in the sacrament of Confession and to receive the grace He wants to give us as He forgives us and strengthens us to grow closer to Him and to obey His will in love.