“And that I might not be puffed up with pride because of the abundance of revelations, a thorn was put in my flesh, a messenger of Satan to smite me, lest I should be exalted above all measure” – 2 Corinthians 12:7, (KJV). To help better understand how other translations translate the beginning of this verse, which says: "To keep me from becoming conceited." As Christians and human beings living on God's earth, we indeed love attention, accolades and praise. In the above mentioned passage we have here, Paul was given a special gift in which he can receive revelations from God. In his revelation, Paul receives a thorn in the flesh. There is much speculation about the nature of this thorn; we will come back to this a little later in the document. For now, the focus will be on Paul's humiliation and how this passage of Scripture begins. I think we often forget this point. The point is, we focus on the thorn and, oh, how we speculate about what it was. If you look at the beginning of the verse “the least I should be exalted or conceited above measure” Paul clearly shows, in humble worship. In his writings he often made it clear that it was nothing he did or could do, but that it was always about Christ. What a lesson for Christians today if we could “be aware that there will be thorns in the way” (Gleanings from the Corinthian Letters), yet it is about Christ. Christ himself was neither conceited nor proud and his model should be imitated. However, the rhetoric that Paul follows here is Christ's model in the complete recognition of complete self-giving. We will remember in the verse preceding this one that Paul reiterates his humility by diverting all attention... middle of paper. ..... in his capacity. I think of my dear sister, I think of Paul, disabled in one way or another, but both continued to serve, giving everything to God. Works CitedAMG 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 Conferences, 90-93. Brown Trail Church of Christ, 2013. Stapleton, Robert. Lecture Notes, I and II Corinthians. Robert Stapleton.Jackson, Bill. A commentary on II Corinthians. Bill Jackson. Merriam-Webster, Incorporated. Merriam-Webster Academic Dictionary. Merriam-Webster, Incorporated, 2004.Christ, Southside Church of. “A thorn in the flesh.” South Side Church of Christ. October 10, 2010. http://www.southsidechurchofchrist.com/sermons/a-thorn-in-the-flesh.html (accessed March 03, 2014).