Devotional 26 November 2025

November 26, 2025 • Steve Torres

1 Corinthians 9:7.jpg

“Do we not have the right to eat and drink? Do we not have the right to take along a believing wife, as do the other apostles and the brothers of the Lord and Cephas? Or is it only Barnabas and I who have no right to refrain from working for a living? Who serves as a soldier at his own expense? Who plants a vineyard without eating any of its fruit? Or who tends a flock without getting some of the milk? Do I say these things on human authority? Does not the Law say the same? For it is written in the Law of Moses, “You shall not muzzle an ox when it treads out the grain.” Is it for oxen that God is concerned? Does he not certainly speak for our sake? It was written for our sake, because the plowman should plow in hope and the thresher thresh in hope of sharing in the crop. If we have sown spiritual things among you, is it too much if we reap material things from you? If others share this rightful claim on you, do not we even more? Nevertheless, we have not made use of this right, but we endure anything rather than put an obstacle in the way of the gospel of Christ. Do you not know that those who are employed in the temple service get their food from the temple, and those who serve at the altar share in the sacrificial offerings? In the same way, the Lord commanded that those who proclaim the gospel should get their living by the gospel.” (1 Corinthians 9:4–14, ESV)

In this passage Paul continues his larger argument about laying down rights for the sake of others, but now he shifts from food to something far more significant: the right of gospel workers to be supported by the church. Paul makes it unmistakably clear that those who labor in preaching and teaching have a real, God-given right to receive material support. He appeals to everyday life (v. 7), to the Law of Moses (Deut. 25:4; cf. 1 Tim. 5:18), to temple practice (v. 13), and even to Christ Himself who said, “The laborer deserves his wages” (Luke 10:7; cf. Matt. 10:10). Paul is not embarrassed by this right. He defends it boldly.

But then he does something unexpected. After showing how legitimate this right is, he tells them he has not used it (vv. 12, 15). And the reason is simple: their consciences are too weak to bear it. The Corinthians are spiritually immature. They are suspicious, proud, and easily offended. If Paul were to receive support from them, it would become a stumbling block. They might think he preached for money or that the gospel was just another form of rhetoric for hire. So, because he knows their weakness, he lays down the very right he just defended.

This is the same pattern he established in chapter 8. Love willingly sets aside freedom for the sake of a brother. Paul is not creating a new rule. He is living out the cross-shaped life of Christ, who Himself laid down divine privilege for the good of others (Phil. 2:5–8). Paul’s point is not that ministers should refuse support. His point is that the right exists, but that love governs how we use it.

This passage reminds us that the church is a body. Paul sows spiritual things; they should sow material things in return (v. 11; Gal. 6:6). When the body cares for those who feed it spiritually, this is brotherly love. Yet Christian maturity also means willingly surrendering a right when its use would harm the weaker believer. In all things, love builds up.

And as we consider Paul’s example, we are reminded to look at those who build us up in the faith and ask how we might support them in love, just as they faithfully support us.