2 Thessalonians 3:7-9

Paul's Example Among Them

Paul urged them to remember the example he had set when in Thessalonica (1 Thessalonians 2:9). He had worked night and day so that they might hear the gospel and he could earn a living. If one who was bringing them the word of salvation could work with his own hands and not insist on being fed, clothed and housed by the brethren, surely the unruly brother could too.

He did not eat anyone's bread without compensating them for it. In other words, he did not take his living from them. McGarvey says the vast amount of slave labor in that day made working with one's hands be despised. Paul tried to make Christians realize that work was honorable (Genesis 2:15; Genesis 3:17-19; 1 Corinthians 4:12; Ephesians 4:28). As one who preached the gospel, Paul had a right to earn a living from that preaching (1 Corinthians 9:1-14; Galatians 6:6; 1 Timothy 5:17-18). Paul did not take advantage of that right because he wanted them to see that work was honorable. He wanted them to follow his example (2 Thessalonians 3:7-9).