Introduction: We may not usually think of Paul as an emotionally sensitive person. After all, Paul is the Apostle who wrote about doctrine and theology: justification, sanctification, predestination and election, and so on. Surely he was led by his brain, and not by his heart! And yet we get loud hints all through Paul's epistles that he was also deeply emotional. For example, he addresses people in his letters at least seven times as "dearly beloved." (This is a form of the Greek word for love, agape.) Here in this chapter, Paul reveals some of his inner emotional life. He sets us an example of how Christians ought to feel about themselves, and about God, life and one another.

I. Paul longed to be loved by the Corinthians (verse 2).
We all need to feel loved by others. When we seek love, and when we are rejected, we are hurt, and sometimes try to harden our hearts, and withdraw into ourselves. Do you remember the old Simon and Garfunkel song, "I Am A Rock?"

Discouragement caused by rejection can ruin a life! We all need to feel loved. Your children, your spouse, your parents, you yourself. It is YOUR privilege and calling from God to see to it that they feel loved by you.

II. Paul tried to be loveable (verse 2).
Paul says: "I have wronged no one. I have corrupted no one; I have exploited no one." If we want to be loveable, we need to stop doing bad things or using cruel words to those around us. Of course, there is also much we must DO to be loveable. Paul apparently succeeded, for he was loved very much (see Acts 20:36-38). Do you want to be loved? Then do these three things: 1. Care about others. 2. Meet the needs of others (remember the story of the vagrant and the deacon). 3. Speak loving words to others. Paul declared his love to the Corinthians (verse 3-4). (Bill Clinton was elected twice because he said "I feel your pain." And people believed he truly cared about how they felt.)

III. Our God is a God who comforts the downcast (verse 6).
God does not want us to feel guilty, depressed, desperate, and so on. He wants us to feel joy, peace and confidence. John 8:1-11 is an illustration of Jesus caring about a despairing woman.

But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. At dawn he appeared again in the temple courts, where all the people gathered around him, and he sat down to teach them. The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group and said to Jesus, "Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?" They were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing him. But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger. When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, "If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her." Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground. At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there. Jesus straightened up and asked her, "Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?" "No one, sir," she said. "Then neither do I condemn you," Jesus declared. "Go now and leave your life of sin."

"Neither do I condemn you! Go your way and sin no more." Our God is not a condemning God, but He is a pardoning God. Rom 8:1 says: "Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus." God is our shepherd. He takes us to green pastures. He leads us to still waters. He comforts us with his rod and staff.

Conclusion: God used Titus as a tool to bring encouragement to Paul. Are we tools of encouragement and comfort in God's hand? Paul said in Ephesians 4:29: "Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen." May God use our words to edify and to comfort one another. Amen.