PAUL'S THORN in the FLESH

“And lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure”- 2 Corinthians 12:7, (KJV). To help get a better understanding of how other translations translate the beginning of this verse, which they say, “To keep me from becoming conceited.” We as Christian’s, human beings living on God’s earth, indeed love attention, accolades’, and praise. In the above-mentioned scripture we have here, Paul has received a special gift in which he can receive revelations from God. In his revelation, Paul receives a thorn in the flesh. There are many speculations on what the thorn was; we will elaborate on that a little later in the paper. The focus as of yet, will be on humbling down of Paul and how this passage of scripture starts out. I think we often miss this point. The point being, we concentrate on the thorn and oh, how we speculate what it was. If you look at the start of the verse “least, I should be exalted or conceited above measure,” clearly displays Paul, in humble adoration. In his writings, he would often make it evidently clear that it was nothing he was doing or could do, but it was always about Christ. What a lesson for Christians today if we could “set our minds that there will be thorns along the way” (Gleanings from the Corinthian Letters), nevertheless it is about Christ. Christ himself was not conceited or prideful and his pattern should be emulated. However, the rhetoric Paul here follows is the pattern of Christ in complete acknowledgement of giving oneself completely.
We will remember in the verse prior to this one that Paul reiterates his humbleness by taking all attention away ...

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... in her capacity. I think back on my dear sister, I think about Paul, handicapped in some form or fashion, but both continued to serve, giving God their all.

Works Cited

AMG International, Inc. The Hebrew-Greek Key Word Study Bible, King James Version, 1984, Revised Edition 1991.

Brown Trail Church of Christ. Gleanings from the Corinthian Letters, 36th Annual Fort Worth Lectures, 90-93. Brown Trail Church of Christ, 2013.

Stapleton, Robert. Class Notes, I & II Corinthians. Robert Stapleton.

Jackson, Bill. A Commentary on Second Corinthians. Bill Jackson.

Merriam-Webster, Incorporated. Merriam-Webster’s School Dictionary. Merriam-Webster, Incorporated, 2004.

Christ, Southside Church of. “A Thorn in the Flesh.” Southside Church of Christ. October 10, 2010. http://www.southsidechurchofchrist.com/sermons/a-thorn-in-the-flesh.html (accessed March 03, 2014).