6 We were not looking for praise from people, not from you or anyone else, even though as apostles of Christ we could have asserted our authority.
6 Nor did we seek glory from people, whether from you or from others, though we could have made demands as apostles of Christ.
6 Even though we had some standing as Christ's apostles, we never threw our weight around or tried to come across as important, with you or anyone else.
6 Nor did we seek glory from men, either from you or from others, when we might have made demands as apostles of Christ.
6 As for human praise, we have never sought it from you or anyone else.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on 1 Thessalonians 2:6
Commentary on 1 Thessalonians 2:1-6
(Read 1 Thessalonians 2:1-6)
The apostle had no wordly design in his preaching. Suffering in a good cause should sharpen holy resolution. The gospel of Christ at first met with much opposition; and it was preached with contention, with striving in preaching, and against opposition. And as the matter of the apostle's exhortation was true and pure, the manner of his speaking was without guile. The gospel of Christ is designed for mortifying corrupt affections, and that men may be brought under the power of faith. This is the great motive to sincerity, to consider that God not only sees all we do, but knows our thoughts afar off, and searches the heart. And it is from this God who trieth our hearts, that we must receive our reward. The evidences of the apostle's sincerity were, that he avoided flattery and covetousness. He avoided ambition and vain-glory.