📖WEB · 2 Corinthians 12:14
What does 2 Corinthians 12:14 mean?
"Behold, this is the third time I am ready to come to you, and I will not be a burden to you; for I seek not your possessions, but you. For the children ought not to save up for the parents, but the parents for the children."
— 2 Corinthians 12:14 (World English Bible)
Surrounding context
I have become foolish in boasting. You compelled me, for I ought to have been commended by you, for in nothing was I inferior to the very best apostles, though I am nothing.
Truly the signs of an apostle were worked among you in all perseverance, in signs and wonders and mighty works.
For what is there in which you were made inferior to the rest of the assemblies, unless it is that I myself was not a burden to you? Forgive me this wrong.
Behold, this is the third time I am ready to come to you, and I will not be a burden to you; for I seek not your possessions, but you. For the children ought not to save up for the parents, but the parents for the children.
I will most gladly spend and be spent for your souls. If I love you more abundantly, am I loved the less?
But be it so, I did not myself burden you. But, being crafty, I caught you with deception.
Did I take advantage of you by anyone of them whom I have sent to you?
Explanation
2 Corinthians 12:14 finds Paul preparing for his third visit to the church in Corinth, and he opens by reassuring them that he will not financially burden them as some might expect. He explicitly states his motive: he is not after their money or possessions but after them—their hearts, their faith, their relationship with him and with Christ. He then supports this with a natural illustration drawn from ordinary family life: children are not expected to store up wealth for their parents; rather, it is parents who provide for and save up for their children. This everyday truth about parental love and responsibility becomes the lens through which Paul explains his own conduct toward the Corinthians.
To understand this verse well, it helps to know the surrounding controversy. Paul had been criticized by certain "super-apostles" in Corinth who accused him of being weak, unimpressive, or even deceptive. Part of the tension involved money: Paul had refused to accept financial support from the Corinthians directly, unlike other traveling teachers of his day who expected payment for their ministry. Some in Corinth apparently used this refusal against him, perhaps suggesting he didn't love them, or hinting that he planned to exploit them through a collection he was organizing for the Jerusalem church. Paul writes 2 Corinthians, in part, to defend his integrity and clarify his motives as he prepares for this third visit.
Theologically, the verse reveals a picture of pastoral and apostolic ministry modeled on parental self-giving love rather than transactional relationships. Paul frames spiritual leadership not as an opport
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