The Trust That Was Not Put to Shame (2 Corinthians 7:13-16)
Today’s Word
[The Joy of Titus, Complete Confidence] (NIV)
7:13 By all this we are encouraged. In addition to our own encouragement, we were especially delighted to see how happy Titus was, because his spirit has been refreshed by all of you.
7:14 I had boasted to him about you, and you have not embarrassed me. But just as everything we said to you was true, so our boasting about you to Titus has proved to be true as well.
7:15 And his affection for you is all the greater when he remembers that you were all obedient, receiving him with fear and trembling.
7:16 I am glad I can have complete confidence in you.
Background
The second half of 2 Corinthians 7 reads like one long story. Paul arrived in Macedonia worn down by “conflicts on the outside, fears within.” Then Titus came with news from Corinth, and Paul was deeply comforted (God Comforts Us Through Those He Sends, 2 Corinthians 7:2-7). In yesterday’s passage Paul looked back on the severe letter he had written with tears and rejoiced that the sorrow it caused had led the Corinthians to repentance (Sorrow That Leaves No Regret, 2 Corinthians 7:8-12). Today’s passage is the final scene of that story.
Verse 13 opens with “By all this we are encouraged.” Everything just described, the Corinthians’ repentance, their earnestness, their longing for Paul, is the reason for his comfort. But Paul adds something on top of it: the joy of seeing Titus happy. His own relief would have been enough. Yet watching his co-worker come back refreshed made his joy greater still. Comfort, with delight stacked on top.
Who was Titus? Acts never mentions him by name, but Paul’s letters do, several times. He was a Gentile believer (Galatians 2:3) who went up to Jerusalem with Paul. Paul calls him “my partner and co-worker among you” (2 Corinthians 8:23), and later trusted him enough to leave him in charge of the churches on Crete (Titus 1:4-5). That Paul sent Titus to his most difficult church at the most difficult moment says a great deal about how much he trusted him.
Think about it from Titus’s side and the size of his joy makes sense. This was no easy errand. The relationship between Paul and the church was badly damaged, and Titus seems to have gone either carrying Paul’s severe letter or right after it arrived. No one knew how the Corinthians would respond. They might have received him coldly, or shut the door altogether. Instead, they welcomed him “with fear and trembling” and listened. A trip that began with a heavy heart ended in unexpected joy.
In verse 14 Paul reveals something that happened before Titus left. Paul had “boasted” to Titus about the Corinthians. Even with the relationship strained, he spoke well of them. He believed they would come back to the right path, and he said so to Titus. That was a real risk. If the Corinthians had let him down, Paul would have been embarrassed in front of his co-worker. But their response made his words true. So he can say, “you have not embarrassed me.”
Tucked into the end of verse 14 is a very Pauline line: “just as everything we said to you was true,” so his boasting to Titus proved true as well. Some in Corinth had accused Paul of being a man whose word could not be trusted, seizing on his change of travel plans (1:15-18). Paul now answers quietly. He told them the truth, and he told the truth about them. His words were the same in front of them and behind their backs.
“Fear and trembling” in verse 15 is a phrase Paul uses often. He said he first came to Corinth “in weakness with great fear and trembling” (1 Corinthians 2:3), and he urged the Philippians to “work out your salvation with fear and trembling” (Philippians 2:12). It does not mean terror. It describes a humble seriousness, a refusal to treat the things of God lightly. The Corinthians received Titus as someone sent by Paul, and beyond that, as someone sent by God.
Verse 16 is short, but it closes the whole first section of the letter, chapters 1 through 7. Paul has been defending his ministry, revisiting the rupture, and pleading for reconciliation. Now he says, “I am glad I can have complete confidence in you.” The sentence is also a bridge into chapter 8, where Paul raises the collection for the poor believers in Jerusalem and once again entrusts the work to Titus (8:6, 16-17). Because trust had been restored, they could take the next step together.
For the flow of the whole letter, see Introduction to 2 Corinthians.
Key Words Made Simple
- Encouragement: Greek paraklēsis. Calling someone alongside to strengthen them. A key word running through this letter from chapter 1.
- Delighted / happy: Greek chara. Joy. In verse 13 the joy of Titus and the joy of Paul are woven into a single sentence.
- Refreshed: Greek anapauō. To give rest, to let someone catch their breath. It is the same verb Jesus uses in “I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28).
- Spirit: Greek pneuma. Here it means a person’s innermost self.
- Boasted: Greek kauchaomai. To speak proudly and confidently about something. Paul was wary of boasting about himself, but gladly boasted about people he believed in.
- Embarrassed: Greek kataischynō. To be put to shame, to have one’s hopes collapse in public.
- True: Greek alētheia. Truth, reality. Words and facts that line up.
- Fear and trembling: Greek phobos kai tromos. Not fright, but a humble seriousness before God.
- Affection: Greek splanchna. Literally “the inward parts,” love that rises from deep inside. It shares a root with the word used when Jesus “had compassion” on the crowds.
- Confidence: Greek tharreō. To be of good courage, to rely on someone without reservation.
Expressions Worth Noting
- “In addition to our own encouragement, we were especially delighted to see how happy Titus was” (7:13)
- Paul’s joy did not stop at the resolution of his own trouble. Seeing his co-worker’s joy made it larger.
- A heart that can enjoy someone else’s joy makes a community warm.
- “His spirit has been refreshed by all of you” (7:13)
- What gave Titus rest was not a pleasant setting but people. The Corinthians’ repentance and welcome gave a tired servant room to breathe.
- We, too, can be a place of rest for someone.
- “You have not embarrassed me” (7:14)
- Paul spoke well of the Corinthians even while the relationship was broken. That trust did not end in shame.
- Believing in people carries risk, but that belief can also help them stand.
- “Receiving him with fear and trembling” (7:15)
- The Corinthians did not treat Titus lightly. They received his words seriously before God.
- A restored relationship shows itself in treating the other person as precious again.
- “I am glad I can have complete confidence in you” (7:16)
- Broken trust has been rebuilt. Seven chapters of defense and pleading come to rest in one sentence.
- When trust returns, the next step can be taken together.
What the Passage Says
- Joy layered on comfort (7:13). Paul was comforted by the Corinthians’ repentance, and on top of that came the joy of seeing Titus glad. One community’s restoration spread into joy for many.
- A community that gives rest (7:13). Titus went to Corinth with a heavy heart and came back with his spirit refreshed because of them. The church can be a place where people give one another rest.
- A boast that was not put to shame (7:14). Paul boasted to Titus about the Corinthians, and their response proved his words true. Paul’s words were honest both to their faces and behind their backs.
- A guest received with seriousness (7:15). The Corinthians received Titus with fear and trembling and obeyed. Every time he remembers it, his heart goes out to them all the more.
- Trust rebuilt (7:16). Paul rejoices that he can now have complete confidence in them. That trust becomes the foundation for the new work of generosity that begins in chapter 8.
Standing Before This Word Today
Reading this short passage lifts the heart a little. Most of 2 Corinthians is a painful story: misunderstanding and accusation, a tearful letter, a damaged relationship, worry that keeps a man awake. But today’s passage has none of that shadow. Comfort, joy, refreshment, affection, confidence. Word after word. It is like opening a window after a long winter and feeling the first warm air. And this scene puts a few questions to us.
The first is whether I know how to rejoice in someone else’s joy. Paul could have been content that his own problem was solved. Instead, seeing Titus happy made his joy greater. Rejoicing fully in another person’s joy is harder than we admit. When someone else does well, we congratulate them, yet something in us cools a little and comparison raises its head. Love is the experience of my joy growing as I watch someone else rejoice. Paul wrote, “Rejoice with those who rejoice” (Romans 12:15), and here we see him living it.
The second is whether I am a place of rest for anyone. Titus carried a heavy load to Corinth, and it was the Corinthians who let him set it down. Jesus promised rest to the weary and burdened, and sometimes that rest comes through people. We breathe more easily near someone who listens with an open heart, who takes us seriously, who admits a wrong and reaches out again. Do the people around us catch their breath when they are with us, or do they tense up?
The third is how I speak about people. Even while things were broken with the Corinthians, Paul spoke well of them to Titus. We tend to do the opposite. When someone has hurt us, we talk about their faults when they are not in the room. It feels like relief for a moment, but the distance only grows. Paul spoke words of trust before he knew how things would turn out. That was not naivety. It was faith that God was at work in them. Trusting people is, in the end, trusting the God who works in them.
Of course, trusting people carries risk. Paul’s boast could have backfired. Most of us have trusted someone and been let down, and some of us have resolved never to trust so easily again. But this passage shows another possibility: knowing that someone believed in us can itself be what helps us stand up straight. The Corinthians surely learned later that Paul had boasted about them to Titus. Imagine how that felt. Even at their most shameful moment, Paul had believed in them. That knowledge must have moved them all the more deeply.
The fourth is whether my words are the same in front of people and behind them. Paul says that just as everything he told the Corinthians was true, so was what he told Titus about them. When someone’s words are the same to your face and behind your back, those words carry weight. That is how trust is built. Not by one grand promise, but by small words, one after another, proving true.
Finally, let us stay a moment with verse 16. “I am glad I can have complete confidence in you.” We know from the earlier chapters how many tears and how much waiting stood behind this sentence. Broken trust takes time to mend. It is not healed by covering the wound. It has to pass through honest words, repentance, and patience. But at the end of that road waits a confession like this one: I am glad I can trust you again. If you are in a relationship where trust has broken, this passage offers hope that the story does not have to end there.
Before this word today, we might pray: Lord, let me enjoy the joy of others as my own. Let the people beside me find rest because of me, and let me speak words of trust about them even when they are not there. Where a relationship has broken, help me wait honestly until the day trust can be restored.
Living It Out
- Celebrate someone’s good news sincerely. When something good happens to someone near you this week, offer a word of congratulation. If comparison rises, notice it, and add your heart to their joy anyway.
- Be a place of rest for someone. Think of one person who looks tired lately. Give them time to be heard rather than advice, and stay near enough that they can catch their breath.
- Speak well of people who are not in the room. If someone has hurt you, name one of their strengths, not their faults, when they are not present. It is practice in trusting the God who is at work in them, as Paul did.
- Make your words match. Look back on today. Did you say anything about someone that you could not have said in front of them? If so, resolve next time to say only what you could say to their face.
- Pray for a broken trust. If there is a relationship where trust has broken, pray for that person by name. Don’t rush, but don’t give up. Entrust to God your hope for the day of restoration.
Questions to Sit With
- When did someone else’s joy last make me glad? And when has someone else’s joy made me uneasy?
- Do the people around me rest when they are with me, or do they tense up?
- How do I tend to talk about people when they are not there?
- Has someone’s trust in me ever helped me stand up straight?
- If there is a relationship where I need to rebuild trust, what small thing can I do today?
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