December 23 Click on verses for Full Scripture

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Today's Pathway: II Corinthians 12:14-18 Behold, the third time I am ready to come to you; and I will not be burdensome to you: for I seek not yours, but you: for the children ought not to lay up for the parents, but the parents for the children. And I will very gladly spend and be spent for you; though the more abundantly I love you, the less I be loved. But be it so, I did not burden you: nevertheless, being crafty, I caught you with guile. Did I make a gain of you by any of them whom I sent unto you? I desired Titus, and with him I sent a brother. Did Titus make a gain of you? walked we not in the same spirit? walked we not in the same steps?

Yesterday we saw that Paul wrote that he is going to be returning to Corinth and he is still not going to expect them to take care of his financial needs while he is there because he is not trying to get their money, but trying to get their hearts. The end of verse 14 illustrates another reason why he is not taking their support: parents provide for their children, not the children for the parents. There are three things we should notice about that expression. First, Paul is not saying that children do not have a responsibility to care for their parents in their old age. I Timothy 5:3-8 clearly shows that they do. Second, Paul viewed himself as a spiritual father to the Corinthians (I Corinthians 4:15), and therefore had the responsibility to provide for them as a parent provides for his or her children. Third, Paul is indicating that the Corinthians still lack maturity. Parents provide for their children until they are able to provide for themselves. Once an individual leaves home the parental responsibility to pay all the bills for their offspring ceases. David Guzik interpreted it this way,

"Paul is saying, 'You Corinthian Christians are not mature enough to support me yet. You are still spiritual children. When you grow up some, you can be partners with me in the work and support me. But until then I will support myself.'”

In verse 15 Paul writes that he is very glad to expend himself on the Corinthians. Paul is willing to spend his time, money, and energy on the Corinthians, and he is willing to do it until he has given them everything that he has ("be spent"). He does this because he loves them. Yet it seems that the more love he bestows on the Corinthians, the less love they give back to him. How grieved Paul must have been! Yet he does not stop serving them or loving them. This should serve as an example to all believers, particularly those who are in leadership positions. It is not our job to make others love us; it is our job to love and serve the Lord, and thus love and serve those whom He has put in our path. It would be great if we were always loved by those who we serve, but their response does not dictate our responsibility. If we treat them like they treat us, then Christ's admonition in Matthew 5:46 applies to us:

"For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same?"

In verse 16 Paul responds to the accusations that are coming from the false apostles in Corinth. They are saying something like this: "Well, it's true that Paul didn't take any money from us when he was here. But he's sneaky, and he is probably going to take our offering for the Jerusalem believers and keep it for himself." Isn't this typical of those who oppose God's work and God's leaders? They know that Paul hasn't done anything wrong yet, but they are telling others that he will in the future. And unfortunately, people in the church were listening. Here is another lesson: don't listen to the false accusers who are basing their objections on assumptions. If sin has been committed, then deal with it. If not, then don't impugn someone's character based on someone else's innuendo. Paul's response in verses 17-18 to these accusations is this: did anyone I ever sent to you try to take financial advantage of you? He mentions Titus and others who the Corinthians knew to be men of character. If Paul was stealing from them, then Titus would have been also involved, and if Titus wasn't cheating them, then Paul wasn't either because both of them thought and lived the same way. A final lesson for today: when a man surrounds himself with men of integrity, others know that he is a man of integrity himself.