What does 2 Corinthians 11:9 mean?

As a travelling missionary, Paul often refers to the regions in which he works rather than to specific towns. In this verse, he mentions the region of Macedonia, in northern Greece. This would have included the towns of Philippi, Thessalonica, and Berea, where the Christians were quite poor. In order to avoid being a burden to the Corinthians—the region of Achaia—while working with them, Paul humbled himself by receiving contributions from these hurting churches. That's how committed he was to the principle of never taking money from people he was trying to reach with the gospel of Jesus.

Paul may have been mocked by the false apostles in Corinth for this principle. Or, for doing the manual labor of making tents to support himself when he first came to Corinth. Some of the Corinthians themselves may have resented Paul's stubborn refusal to take money from them when he was willing to take it from less wealthy churches. His motivation was important, though: to never cloud the message that God's grace and forgiveness were free gifts to those who trusted in Christ.