2 Corinthians 11:16-21 Mending Broken People
Format for Your Devotions
Instructions: Do not read my example devotion until you have completed your own devotional time in the scriptures. Reading my thoughts first may limit your own understanding. Let the Holy Spirit speak to you alone before looking to see what anyone else has to say, whether it is me, a Bible commentary, or a friend. Let God speak to you before you let another person speak to you. I have provided a format, but modify it to fit your needs. For example, I usually combine my application and prayer together talking to God about the application to my own life. You can go through this devotion process mentally, speaking out loud, or in writing as you wish. Don’t worry if you are not following this process exactly. Sometimes, I add extra information and sometimes I emphasize one part more than others. However, you should always think about what you learn about God from this passage.
Step 1: Pray–Ask for the Holy Spirit’s guidance first of all and that God may reveal the lessons that He wants you to have that day. Request that God protect you from Satan’s distractions (and the devil will try to distract you whether it is pinching the baby or putting you to sleep). Ask to see God more clearly as you read and think about the passage.
Step 2: Read the passage–Read to get an overview of the information first. Then start looking at specific parts after the first reading. You may read a larger or smaller section than I have here because you do not have to follow my organization at all.
Step 3: Understand the passage–You can summarize, ask and answer your own questions about the passage, visualize the story, analyze the characters, and relate this passage to other scriptures and personal experiences.
Step 4: What does this reveal about God?–What do you learn about the Father, Son, and/or Holy Spirit from this passage?
Step 5: Apply this to your own life.
Step 6: Prayer
My Example Devotion: May 14, 2020 2 Corinthians 11:16-21
Note: In the devotion examples, I leave my questions and thought processes in the text because I am trying to demonstrate that a devotional time is a dialogue with God about what you are reading from His word. As such, any questions or ideas that you have should be explored by talking it out with God. These example devotions are not my attempts to teach you what the meaning of a particular scripture is. They are an attempt to teach you the process of devotions, which is a combination of prayer and Bible study where you explore ideas with God as you read His word.
I repeat, let no one think me foolish. But even if you do, accept me as a fool, so that I too may boast a little. What I am saying with this boastful confidence, I say not as the Lord would but as a fool. Since many boast according to the flesh, I too will boast. For you gladly bear with fools, being wise yourselves! For you bear it if someone makes slaves of you, or devours you, or takes advantage of you, or puts on airs, or strikes you in the face. To my shame, I must say, we were too weak for that! But whatever anyone else dares to boast of—I am speaking as a fool—I also dare to boast of that.
(Understanding the Text / Revelation of God) Paul makes a big deal of being foolish for boasting. He is saying that this is not the right way to look at people or interact with people. He is only doing this because the Corinthians insist on working in this way. Paul says that Jesus would never act in the way that he is about to act. It is not Jesus’ way to boast of past accomplishments or situations. I have seen this in someone claiming to represent Jesus in the past. I made the mistake of ignoring my intuition, and someone ended up getting hurt. Next time I feel someone is bragging too much in a spiritual way, I will be on my guard.
(Understanding the Text) Paul is being sarcastic about the kind of wisdom that the Corinthians are using where they judge others by worldly accomplishments rather than the message that is being delivered. Paul tells them that their worldly wisdom has allowed others to enslave them. It has allowed others to take away the Corinthians’ wealth-both material and spiritual. Their worldly wisdom has admired people who put on airs acting like they are better than the Corinthians. The Corinthians’ worldly wisdom has made them accept people slapping them in the face. This tells me that the false apostles not only took the Corinthians’ money, but they also treated the Corinthian Christians as inferior. The next part of the passage reveals that these are Jewish apostles, so these Jews were treating the Gentiles as not being as good as themselves.
Paul says that he never treated the Corinthians in this way. He sarcastically says that he is ashamed that he did not mistreat the Gentiles like a normal Jew would. Then he turns around and says that he is boasting that he always treated them well and never stole from them either materially or spiritually.
Here once again is evidence that the Corinthians were relationally broken. They had abused their bodies, minds, and spirits to such an extent that they did not recognize the brokenness in the relationship that these false apostles were forming with them. They were like a co-dependent woman who gets out of one abusive relationship, only to fall into another abusive relationship with the next attentive man that she encounters. Here again is the idea that an underlying weakness can come out in a new area. It’s not enough to cure the symptoms. We have to let Jesus transform us from the inside out.
Paul is speaking more as a discarded husband than as an unemotional teacher. Paul is reacting as they need. They need to feel that he is passionate about them. They need to feel that they have hurt Paul. They need to have the emotional excitement of seeing that there is a lover who is pursuing them. This is why they responded so well. Their brokenness was soothed and healed by realizing that even when they had turned to another, Paul was still pursuing them and loving them. In seeing Paul behave this way with them, they were able to trust that Jesus also loved them.
(Application / Prayer) I cannot act the way that Paul did with people. I know my own brokenness and lack of constant affection. I pray that I will not fail You when it comes to turning others to You. I pray that I will not misrepresent You. I pray that they will only see You and not be turned away by my brokenness.