Daily Devotions
2 Corinthians
"And I will very gladly spend and be spent for your souls..."
Text: 2 Corinthians 12:15
A MEASURE OF PAIN
While ministry often brings much joy, there would be times when pain is inevitably felt. Paul must have felt a measure of pain as he sought to resolve the problems that had caught the rift between them.
“And I will very gladly spend and be spent for your souls;
though the more abundantly I love you, the less I am loved.”
2 Corinthians 12:15
1. “And I will very gladly spend”
a) Very gladly
i) A good and apt adverb.
ii) A superlative adverb was used to express how Paul felt about spending.
b) Very gladly spend
i) Physical wealth is in mind here.
ii) The Corinthians seemed to measure things in terms of dollars and cents.
iii) Paul was glad to spend his own funds to establish the Church ministry in Corinth.
2. “And be spent for your souls”
a) Paul was happy to deplete his resources.
b) He bore in mind what the Corinthians were to him.
i) They were like his children.
ii) Their souls were important.
3. A sad paradox
a) Paul loved the Corinthians church.
b) But he seemed to have found a paradox.
4. “The more abundantly I love you”
a) Paul’s love was expressed in a very tender way.
b) He refused any monetary support from the Corinthians.
c) His love was seen in expecting nothing from the Church.
5. “The less I am loved”
a) This seemed to be the case.
b) There was no appreciation of Paul’s ministry.
c) Instead there were many false allegations made against Paul.
d) Paul did not feel that the Corinthian church he had founded was loving towards him.
This seems so paradoxical!