Outline

«　WEEK 2　DAY 6　»

　　2 Cor. 6:11-13 Our mouth is opened to you, Corinthians; our heart is enlarged. You are not constricted in us, but you are constricted in your inward parts. But for a recompense in kind, I speak as to children, you also be enlarged.

　　If we would be fully reconciled to God, fully saved, we need to be enlarged in our heart.

　　In the past fifty years I have known many dear and precious brothers who were elders and co-workers. A good number of these brothers were very strict and straight…Many times we tried our best to convince these straight brothers to be more flexible…Nevertheless, sometimes a straight brother would respond by saying, “No! That is not the biblical way!” This attitude is a clear indication that those who are strict and straight in this way need to be enlarged.

　　When we become enlarged in our heart, we should not become loose. Rather, we should continue to be strict and straight concerning ourselves, but we should not apply this principle to others. If the Lord has done such a work in us, we have been enlarged. (Life-study of 2 Corinthians, pp. 361-363)

　　We may be great in our own eyes, yet our heart may be extremely narrow. For example, our attitude may be that if a certain one makes a mistake, we should have nothing to do with him unless he repents. This is a sign of narrowness… Our narrowness is a strong indication that we have been reconciled to God only partially and that the percentage of our salvation is quite low. How large our heart is depends on the degree of our reconciliation to God.

　　Often when I attend a wedding meeting, I am urged to give a word. However, I am reluctant to speak at weddings. The problem is not that I do not have anything to say. It is that what I really desire to say may be too frank and honest for the occasion. I strongly dislike the kind of nice, pleasant talk common at weddings, because it usually is far from the truth. If I were to speak at a wedding meeting, I would like to tell the truth, especially concerning the difficulty husbands and wives have in forgiving each other.

　　Once a certain brother has been offended by his wife, he may never forget that offense and never forgive his wife for causing it. Of course, many wives are the same way. What I would like to say to a newly married brother and sister is this: “Sister, try your best to avoid offending your husband. If you offend him, it may take him many years to forgive you. Brother, don’t think that your wife is an angel. She certainly is not an angel. Furthermore, you must love her always. If you fail to express your love for her, she may be offended and remember your failure for a long time.” I use this as another illustration of narrowness of heart.

　　All married brothers and sisters need to be enlarged in heart. Brothers, has your wife offended you? I urge you to forget it. If you are able to forgive an offense and forget it, that is a sign that you have become an enlarged person, a person with a large heart.

　　When you are offended by someone, are you willing to forgive that person? To forgive is actually to forget. Perhaps instead of talking about forgiving, we should speak of forgetting. Then a husband would say to his wife, “Dear, let us both forget that offense.” Forgetting is true forgiving.

　　Both in your family life and in the church life, you probably have been offended many times. Have you kept a record of all the offenses? Do you remember how your husband or wife offended you or how you were offended by a certain elder? Do you remember all the offenses caused by the saints? We need to forgive and forget all offenses…This difficulty with forgiving and forgetting is caused by a heart that has not been adequately enlarged. Thus, we see once again that we need our hearts to be enlarged. To be fully reconciled and saved will cause us to be truly enlarged in our hearts. (Life-study of 2 Corinthians, pp. 363-364)

　　Further Reading: Life-study of 2 Corinthians, msgs. 42, 46