“It
would be better for me to die than that anyone should make my boasting void.”
(v.15)
The
apostle Paul said he would rather die than give the impression that he was
serving the Lord for money. That’s why he supported himself while preaching in
Corinth. To him, anything that marred his testimony for Christ was worse than
dying. Even though Paul had the right to be supported in his ministry to the
church in Corinth, he shows great love by avoiding that liberty which could
have caused some to stumble about his motives.
Those
in ministry need to be careful while walking the fine line between, “being a
workman worthy of his hire”, and serving the Lord for financial gain. While a
worker has a right to be compensated for his personal sacrifice (v.14), doing
things for others without monetary reward is sometimes the only appropriate
action (v.18).
In
Paul’s case, he wanted his personal sacrifice to be a testimony of the reality
of his relationship to the Lord. His desire to help the Corinthians was best
served, he felt, by being a model of faith and love without any monetary
consideration.
In looking to serve the LORD, may our primary motivation be love, not compensation.
The
Truth
“For the
Son of Man will come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and then He
will reward each according to
his works.” (Matthew 16:27)
