Context No. 4205 of 4322 · 2 Corinthians

2 Corinthians 11:7-11: in context

7Or did I commit a sin in humbling myself that you might be exalted, because I preached to you God’s Good News free of charge? 8I robbed other assemblies, taking wages from them that I might serve you. 9When I was present with you and was in need, I wasn’t a burden on anyone, for the brothers, when they came from Macedonia, supplied the measure of my need. In everything I kept myself from being burdensome to you, and I will continue to do so. 10As the truth of Christ is in me, no one will stop me from this boasting in the regions of Achaia. 11Why? Because I don’t love you? God knows.

Paul reminds the Corinthians of how he served them: he preached the good news to them free of charge, refusing to be a financial burden. He even took support from other churches so that he could serve the Corinthians without cost to them, keeping himself from being a burden in every way. And he tells them plainly why he did it: because I love you. God knows.

What stands out is the self-giving quality of Paul's love. He had every right to be supported by those he served, yet he chose to give without demanding, to serve at cost to himself rather than lay a burden on them. His love expressed itself not in taking but in giving, in going without so that others would not be burdened. Why did I do it, he asks, and answers: because I love you.

Love gives rather than grasps; it seeks the good of the other even at cost to itself, and it does not use people or lay burdens on them for its own advantage. Paul served the Corinthians freely, without charge, because he loved them. To love as Paul loved is to give without demanding return, to serve at our own cost for the sake of others rather than to burden them for our own gain.

Does my love for others express itself, like Paul's, in giving rather than grasping, in serving at cost to myself rather than laying burdens on others for my own advantage, so that those I love are blessed by me and not used?

Sources

2 Corinthians 11:9: "In everything I kept myself from being burdensome to you, and I will continue to do so."
2 Corinthians 11:7: "Did I commit a sin in humbling myself that you might be exalted, because I preached to you God's Good News free of charge?"
2 Corinthians 11:11: "Why? Because I don't love you? God knows."