QT 6/26/2025 2 Cor 12:11–15, Spend and be spent

2 Corinthians 12:11–15 (ESV) —

11 I have been a fool! You forced me to it, for I ought to have been commended by you. For I was not at all inferior to these super-apostles, even though I am nothing. 12 The signs of a true apostle were performed among you with utmost patience, with signs and wonders and mighty works. 13 For in what were you less favored than the rest of the churches, except that I myself did not burden you? Forgive me this wrong!

14 Here for the third time I am ready to come to you. And I will not be a burden, for I seek not what is yours but you. For children are not obligated to save up for their parents, but parents for their children. 15 I will most gladly spend and be spent for your souls. If I love you more, am I to be loved less?

 

NOTE: Paul is slightly embarrassed at his foolishness in boasting. It is a letter, so he could have thrown it away and started again, and I wonder if he considered it. But, in the end, he decided it would be good thing, and it is a door into Paul's world that most would never know about -- how much it cost him to serve God.

 

Verse 15, another of my favorites, is such a beautiful verse reflecting the heart of a disciple maker. "I will most gladly spent and be spent for your souls." We live in a day and age of spending on ourselves and making choices on the basis of what we get out of it. Life, for the average believer, is not about others but about themselves. Retirement is not seen as an opportunity to trade work for ministry, but an opportunity to enjoy life and relax. I'm sorry, but I disagree. Life is to be lived for others and it is selfishness to always evaluate life choices on the basis of self. Paul said "I will most gladly spend and be spent …." He wasn't saving it up for his retirement. He died in his 60's beheaded by Nero. And you know what? HE DID NOT MISS OUT ON ANYTHING. We are stupid when we trade (give up) ministry for our own pleasures. Do we not believe that heaven is far greater than anything this life has to offer? Do we not believe Jesus' words?

 

Mark 10:29–30 (ESV) — 29 Jesus said, “Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands, for my sake and for the gospel, 30 who will not receive a hundredfold now in this time, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and in the age to come eternal life.

 

Luke 14:33 (ESV) — So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple.

 

The cost to be Jesus' disciple is great but it has the greatest benefit package in the world.

 

PONDER:

1. If I am honest with myself, who am I really living for, self or God?
2. Am I content, even excited about serving God until the end of my life?
3. Do I believe that I am not missing out on anything when I spend my life for others?

 

PRAYER: Father, what a great reminder. I now live in those retirement years, and I am getting the opportunity to put words into practice. It is not easy, but I am in the middle of your will, and it is a very good thing. Continue to lead and guide. Things may change in time, and I will be open to whatever direction you lead us.