Study Desk

And so this weak person, your brother for whom Christ died, will perish because of your "knowledge"!

Am I not a free man? Am I not an apostle? Haven't I seen Jesus our Lord? And aren't you the result of my work for the Lord?

Don't I have the right to be given food and drink for my work?

Or are Barnabas and I the only ones who have to work for our living?

Didn't he really mean us when he said that? Of course that was written for us. Anyone who plows and anyone who reaps should do their work in the hope of getting a share of the crop.

But I haven't made use of any of these rights, nor am I writing this now in order to claim such rights for myself. I would rather die first! Nobody is going to turn my rightful boast into empty words!

I have no right to boast just because I preach the gospel. After all, I am under orders to do so. And how terrible it would be for me if I did not preach the gospel!

What pay do I get, then? It is the privilege of preaching the Good News without charging for it, without claiming my rights in my work for the gospel.

All this I do for the gospel's sake, in order to share in its blessings.

Every athlete in training submits to strict discipline, in order to be crowned with a wreath that will not last; but we do it for one that will last forever.

That is why I run straight for the finish line; that is why I am like a boxer who does not waste his punches.

Now, all of this is an example for us, to warn us not to desire evil things, as they did,

All these things happened to them as examples for others, and they were written down as a warning for us. For we live at a time when the end is about to come.

I speak to you as sensible people; judge for yourselves what I say.

The cup we use in the Lord's Supper and for which we give thanks to God: when we drink from it, we are sharing in the blood of Christ. And the bread we break: when we eat it, we are sharing in the body of Christ.

Because there is the one loaf of bread, all of us, though many, are one body, for we all share the same loaf.

None of you should be looking out for your own interests, but for the interests of others.

For, as the scripture says, "The earth and everything in it belong to the Lord."

But if someone tells you, "This food was offered to idols," then do not eat that food, for the sake of the one who told you and for conscience' sake—

If I thank God for my food, why should anyone criticize me about food for which I give thanks?"