(My wrap-up and personal applicaiton of 2 Corinthians from the School of Biblical Studies.)
What is it about negative input that stings so badly? I can hear a thousand compliments, be told a million great things, but when that one negative person comes to me and says, “You’re nothing. Get a life,” or something like that, it’s that one comment that will stick with me for days. It will keep me up at night. It will make my gut churn, and it will cause me to rethink my entire priority list.
I think this is what Paul is talking about when he says “a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me.”
A messenger of Satan to harass me.
That’s what Satan does. He harasses people. He’s a jerk like that. He takes all those uplifting compliments we’ve heard from good people we trust, and with one slight off-the-cuff comment, he wipes them all away.
Juggling Fire 