Devotional 25 November 2025

Paul continues the argument he began in chapter 8. If eating meat causes a brother to stumble, he will gladly lay down the right to eat meat. But in case the Corinthians missed the point, he presses it further: “Am I not free?” Paul turns their own boast against them. They claimed freedom, wisdom, and spirituality, yet used these claims to harm one another. Paul shows that true freedom is proven not by insisting on rights, but by surrendering them in love.

If anyone had grounds to assert his rights, it was Paul. He is truly free. He truly has spiritual authority. He truly possesses wisdom. He has seen the risen Lord (Acts 9:3–6). He has been entrusted with the Gospel (Galatians 1:11–12). He has borne the marks of a true apostle among them (2 Corinthians 12:12). Yet the evidence of his freedom, his wisdom, and his spirituality is not his status: it is his service. Like James says, “I will show you my faith by my works” (James 2:18), Paul effectively says, “I will show you my freedom, my wisdom, and my spiritual maturity by what I have done for you.”

Their very existence as a church is his defense. They are the “seal” of his apostleship. His teaching, and his labor, are living proof that his ministry is from God. By contrast, the Corinthians revealed their immaturity by using their rights without regard for their brothers. Paul reveals true maturity by laying his rights down.

Christ taught that the measure we use will be measured to us (Matthew 7:1–2). The Corinthians measured greatness by knowledge and liberty. Paul measures by Christ: freedom expressed as love, wisdom expressed as service, and spirituality expressed as building up others (1 Cor. 14:12). That is the evidence of a life shaped by the Gospel.