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• 2 CORINTHIANS  12 – COMMENTARY

Bible Text:

2 Corinthians 12:7-13 (ESV)

⁷ So to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited. ⁸ Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. ⁹ But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. ¹⁰ For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

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!

Reflection & Application

2 Corinthians 12:7-10

• What two purposes did Apostle Paul’s “thorn” serve in his life?
• What are the “thorns” in my life and what is my view toward them?  Have they led me to experience the truth of v. 9? 
• Reflect on the words: “My grace is sufficient for you.”  How deeply has this truth taken root in my life?  How will this gospel truth give me strength in the midst of experiencing “weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities”? 
• Reflect on the statement, “For when I am weak, then I am strong,” and why this is a uniquely Christian view of power.

Prayer