Dear Lord; Happy Wednesday Father!
You know Lord, I love it when You plant a seed in my heart and it drives me to seek out answers. Such was the case with the Scripture verse I posted to my Facebook Wall today:
“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.” – 2 Corinthians 13:11 (NIV)
But apparently You weren’t done with me on this one. Over the following hours, the phrase “Strive for full restoration…” kept running through my head, over and over. Finally, I decided to do some research on that particular expression in context and see where it led me.
Now Father, as You know I usually reference the New International Version (NIV) Bible as that’s the version that speaks to my heart most often. However, when I run into a passage that churns in my head one of the first things I do is to compare it to other translations to see it from other perspectives. In the case of this verse, the variance seems to be significant across translations… even in the case of the previous NIV (1984):
“Finally, brothers, good‑by. Aim for perfection, listen to my appeal, be of one mind, live in peace. And the God of love and peace will be with you.” – (NIV 1984)
“Finally, brethren, farewell. Be perfect, be of good comfort, be of one mind, live in peace; and the God of love and peace shall be with you.” – (KJV)
“Finally, brothers and sisters, rejoice, set things right, be encouraged, agree with one another, live in peace, and the God of love and peace will be with you.” – (NET)
“And that’s about it, friends. Be cheerful. Keep things in good repair. Keep your spirits up. Think in harmony. Be agreeable. Do all that, and the God of love and peace will be with you for sure.” – (MSG)
Wow… There’s obviously some differences there Lord. Realizing that these translations stem from words that may not have an exact English equivalent, I then decided to dig deeper and see what the Biblical Scholars had to say on this phrase. From what I found, it appears the original word was Καταρτιζεσθε, which according to Clarke’s Commentary converts to mean : “Be compact; get into joint again; let unity and harmony be restored”. Other commentaries were similar, but the description that finally settled my heart was from Wesley’s Notes which stated : “Be perfect – Aspire to the highest degree of holiness.”.
Strive for full restoration…
I love seeing where Your whispers take me Father.
Heavenly Father, I thank You for making Your Presence known through these quiet instructions to my heart. I pray that You continue to challenge me to dig deeper into Your Word, so as to bring my Walk even closer to Your side. Amen.
~Phather Phil
Hi, I’m Phil Malmstrom, a.k.a. Phather Phil. I’m self-employed, father of two wonderful young men, an ordained minister who delights in spreading Jesus’ Message of Hope and Love, a science-fiction junkie, an aspiring photographer and above all that one of God’s Children who rejoices in His Blessings each day. 
What a lesson in spending time in the scripture, not just researching but listening and letting the living word of God sink deep within. Great inspiration, Phil!
Thank you Jean! We’re very Blessed to be living in a time where we have such amazing research resources available at our fingertips. 🙂
Have a Blessed Day!
Phil,
I love seeing how scripture speaks to other people, to be able to put it a another context other than how I am reading it, His Word is so awesome.
There is a peace I feel, an overwhelming peace as I dig through scripture, knowing I have the privilege to read the words He breathed into life.
Blessings to you Phil.
I do as well Kandi… It’s amazing that each time I read God’s Word, it can open up new bits of His Truth for me. Such a Blessing!
Have a Blessed Day!
I love that you were prompted to dig deeper and found something great. Aren’t God’s little whispers wonderful!?
They are indeed Jenifer, they are indeed. 🙂
Have a Blessed Day!
Digging deeper and discovering new truths in God’s Word is exciting! We need to keep listening to His prompts.
It’s always interesting to see what “bits” of Scripture God uses to grab my attention Lisa. No matter what, I always end up better for it!
Have a Blessed Day!
He will bless us with His revelation when we take the time to dig deeper and seek what He meant in His word!
Amen Allison! Thank you!
Have a Blessed Day!
Sometimes we think we know what God’s Word says but if we dig a little deeper we find there is so much more to it. It is amazing how God talks to us to get us to dig deeper, what a wonderful thing to do. He wanted to make sure you knew what He was talking about, how wonderful of our Father to go to extremes just so we will know. Thanks for sharing this.
Blessings to you, Phil.
It’s so wonderful to gain that clarification, isn’t it Deane? 🙂
Have a Blessed Day!
I liked how you said this, “I love seeing where Your whispers take me Father.” There are always lessons to be learned when He prompts us to dig deeper. Thanks for sharing this with us!
And I love being drawn into those lessons Eileen… So much Truth to be gained!
Have a Blessed Day!