Working with Their Own Hands 1 Corinthians 4:12

Paul the apostle told the Corinthian church members they were “full” and “rich” because they thought they “reigned as kings without” he and his companions. Paul went on to say that he “would to God” they “did reign” so that he and his companions “might reign with” them. In chapter four and verse twelve of First Corinthians, Paul told the church members in Corinth how he and his companions “labor, working with” their “own hands” where we read:

And labor, working with our own hands: being reviled, we bless; being persecuted, we suffer it:

The verse begins, “And labor, working with our own hands:” Paul began with the words, “and labor” which means “grow weary, tired and exhausted”, “working” or “laboring, trading, exercising, performing and committing” “with our own” which refers to “Paul and his companions' ” “hands” or “help, activity, might and power”. Paul and those with him “grew tired and exhausted” as they did “labor” by their own “might and power”.

The verse goes on to say, “being reviled, we bless; being persecuted, we suffer it:”. Paul continued with the words, “being reviled” which means “reproached, railed at and were heaped upon with abuse”, “we bless” or “Paul and his companions celebrated with praise and invoked solemn prayers”; “being persecuted” or “made to run or flee, put to flight and driven away”, “we suffer it” which means “hold it erect and firm as well as sustain, bear and endure”. Though Paul and those with him were “reproached and abused, put to flight and driven away”, they responded by “blessing and praising God” and “bearing and enduring” each of them.

When we meditate upon these words from Paul, we see how he and his companions did not accomplish the spreading of the “gospel of Jesus Christ” without any “labor” or “working” by the “power and ability” they possessed. They also were exposed to “abuse and railing” and being “tossed out of towns”. The “good news” of God's salvation through Jesus Christ His Son did not go forth without “cost”, and Paul and his crew paid those “costs”. Perhaps we have endured a “cost” for sharing the “gospel” with others, and it might be that we have to “work” with our “power and ability”. Perhaps we have been “reviled” and “persecuted” for our witness of Jesus Christ. If so, let us learn from Paul concerning the way of “blessing” and “bearing” should any of these onslaughts come our way, and may we live our lives as a standard for others to gaze upon and believe in Jesus.

Next time Paul shares how “being defamed” he and his companions “intreat”, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.

Until tomorrow…there is more…

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