2 Corinthians 5:6-10 - We make it our goal to please Him

5:6,7

"So we always have good courage". Looking at Paul's life from the outside one might have thought it was not a very desirable life, and in several of his letters he tells his readers not to be disheartened because he was suffering in various ways. The Christian life is not one free of difficulties, but one in which we have the courage to endure and overcome. "We are away from the Lord". Paul knew that the current state was not the end state, he was indeed "away from the Lord". But we "walk by faith not by sight". This is not an excuse for ignoring the reality of life, Paul faced up fully to the realities of life, but we know that God is faithful, and that He is leading us through this life. So we do not live life basing things on outward appearances, on what we immediately see, but on what God is doing. So Paul did not pretend he wasn't suffering, or imagine that he shouldn't really be suffering, but he looked for God's purposes in it all.

5:8,9

Some might be disheartened about Paul's situation, but he was of good courage. At the same time he would rather be with the Lord. To be with the Lord forever is the best thing possible, but there is a good purpose in our being here now. So Paul and his companions make it their purpose to please the Lord now. And this is the purpose that the Corinthians should have.

5:10

Paul reminds them that all of us will have to appear before the judgement seat of God and give an account for what we have done with our lives. This living in the light of the fact that we will have to give an account is a vital thing in terms of living this life properly. It acts as a restraint on doing evil, and as an encouragement to overcome opposition and to not give into fear.