Just as we are reconciled with God through His Son, Y'shua the Christ, we should be reconciled within the body, the church. Y'shua prayed, as recorded in John 17.20-23, that we should be one as the Trinity is one. The relationship between Paul and the church at Corinth was strained. He didn't want to put further strain on it: "I would not make another painful visit to you. For if I grieve you, who is left to make me glad but you whom I have grieved?" (2.1b-2). In this letter, Paul is wanting to bridge some gaps between the church and himself.
He also wants to bridge some gaps between the church and God. "Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ" (1.21). And in chapter 2, verse 3, Paul is trying to get the church back on track through letters, because he's upset by what he hears is happening (or not happening) in the Corinthian church.
Additionally, in this chapter of reconciliation, Paul pleads that the church welcome the penitent follower back into the fold. "Let the prodigal son return," he seems to say. If the church can forgive this person who caused relational damage, Paul too can forgive him and treat him once again as a brother. The prodigal has suffered, and because it seems he's repented, it's time to comfort him. Without extending forgiveness and comfort to this person, the church will remain in a suffering state too, showing the open wound from the rift this person caused. It's time to heal and be one again.
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