“I Cannot Boast,
Since I Am Compelled To Preach”
If
we have sown spiritual seed among you, is it too much if we reap a material
harvest from you? If others have this right of support from you, shouldn’t we
have it all the more?
But
we did not use this right. On the contrary, we put up with anything rather than
hinder the gospel of Christ.
Don’t
you know that those who serve in the temple get their food from the temple, and
that those who serve at the altar share in what is offered on the altar? In the
same way, the Lord has commanded that those who preach the gospel should
receive their living from the gospel.
But
I have not used any of these rights. And I am not writing this in the hope that
you will do such things for me, for I would rather die than allow anyone to
deprive me of this boast. For when I preach the gospel, I cannot boast, since I
am compelled to preach. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel! If I preach
voluntarily, I have a reward; if not voluntarily, I am simply discharging the
trust committed to me. What then is my reward? Just this: that in preaching the
gospel I may offer it free of charge, and so not make full use of my rights as
a preacher of the gospel.
Though I am free and belong to no one, I have made myself a
slave to everyone, to win as many as possible. To the Jews I became like a Jew,
to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though
I myself am not under the law), so as to win those under the law. To those not
having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from
God’s law but am under Christ’s law), so as to win those not having the law. To
the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all people
so that by all possible means I might save some. I do all this for the sake of
the gospel, that I may share in its blessings.
1 Corinthians 9:11-23
We live in a world of doubters, and many do not get what it
means to be a Christian, even though they say they do.
They don’t understand that while we strive to be the best at
what we do, the most important thing in life is to please God. For the
believer, it is for God’s glory and the gospel of Jesus that we do the things
we do every day to make a living.
Live out a godly lifestyle that people can see by the way you
act.
Around us are people who think the things of this world are most
important. But instead of becoming frustrated at the resistance we meet, our
goal should be to advance the gospel by helping others to “get it.”
May God make your life a lighted window
of Christian example.
Our Daily Bread –