DAY 19: Rich generosity
Reading: 2 Corinthians 8:1-15
And now, brothers and sisters, we want you to know about the grace that God has given the Macedonian churches. In the midst of a very severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity. For I testify that they gave as much as they were able, and even beyond their ability. Entirely on their own, they urgently pleaded with us for the privilege of sharing in this service to the Lord’s people. And they exceeded our expectations: They gave themselves first of all to the Lord, and then by the will of God also to us. So we urged Titus, just as he had earlier made a beginning, to bring also to completion this act of grace on your part. But since you excel in everything—in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in complete earnestness and in the love we have kindled in you[a]—see that you also excel in this grace of giving.
I am not commanding you, but I want to test the sincerity of your love by comparing it with the earnestness of others. For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich.
And here is my judgment about what is best for you in this matter. Last year you were the first not only to give but also to have the desire to do so. Now finish the work, so that your eager willingness to do it may be matched by your completion of it, according to your means. For if the willingness is there, the gift is acceptable according to what one has, not according to what one does not have.
Our desire is not that others might be relieved while you are hard pressed, but that there might be equality. At the present time your plenty will supply what they need, so that in turn their plenty will supply what you need. The goal is equality, as it is written: “The one who gathered much did not have too much, and the one who gathered little did not have too little.”
Even under the pressure and affliction of persecution and poverty due
to exploitation by the Romans, the church in Macedonia responded
to the needs of others, because they had been shaped by God. They
gave themselves first to the Lord and then to Paul and his companions.
As a result they abounded in joy and demonstrated the grace they had
received from God by exercising a generosity towards others. They
even begged for the privilege of sharing financially in Paul’s ministry.
Can you imagine your church begging to participate financially in the
mission and ministry of others?
Paul saw a contrast between the Macedonians and the Corinthians,
who had been blessed with many gifts and seemed to excel in
them, but perhaps he thought that up until now they had failed to
demonstrate generosity as one of those gifts? So he calls upon them
to excel in the grace of giving.
Could we pray such a prayer for ourselves? We pray to excel in other
gifts, so why not also the grace of giving? The ungenerous Christian is
far from complete. In our desire to be shaped by God we must model
that generosity of spirit to be found in Jesus, who, though He was rich,
became poor, that we might live.
For Further Reading: Luke 19:1-10 - Zacchaeus's generosity is unlocked.
To Ponder: What steps do you need to take to excel in the grace of giving?
To Pray: Lord Jesus, may I daily grow in the grace of giving, that like the Christians
‘see that you also excel in this grace of giving.’ v7
And now, brothers and sisters, we want you to know about the grace that God has given the Macedonian churches. In the midst of a very severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity. For I testify that they gave as much as they were able, and even beyond their ability. Entirely on their own, they urgently pleaded with us for the privilege of sharing in this service to the Lord’s people. And they exceeded our expectations: They gave themselves first of all to the Lord, and then by the will of God also to us. So we urged Titus, just as he had earlier made a beginning, to bring also to completion this act of grace on your part. But since you excel in everything—in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in complete earnestness and in the love we have kindled in you[a]—see that you also excel in this grace of giving.
I am not commanding you, but I want to test the sincerity of your love by comparing it with the earnestness of others. For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich.
And here is my judgment about what is best for you in this matter. Last year you were the first not only to give but also to have the desire to do so. Now finish the work, so that your eager willingness to do it may be matched by your completion of it, according to your means. For if the willingness is there, the gift is acceptable according to what one has, not according to what one does not have.
Our desire is not that others might be relieved while you are hard pressed, but that there might be equality. At the present time your plenty will supply what they need, so that in turn their plenty will supply what you need. The goal is equality, as it is written: “The one who gathered much did not have too much, and the one who gathered little did not have too little.”
Even under the pressure and affliction of persecution and poverty due
to exploitation by the Romans, the church in Macedonia responded
to the needs of others, because they had been shaped by God. They
gave themselves first to the Lord and then to Paul and his companions.
As a result they abounded in joy and demonstrated the grace they had
received from God by exercising a generosity towards others. They
even begged for the privilege of sharing financially in Paul’s ministry.
Can you imagine your church begging to participate financially in the
mission and ministry of others?
Paul saw a contrast between the Macedonians and the Corinthians,
who had been blessed with many gifts and seemed to excel in
them, but perhaps he thought that up until now they had failed to
demonstrate generosity as one of those gifts? So he calls upon them
to excel in the grace of giving.
Could we pray such a prayer for ourselves? We pray to excel in other
gifts, so why not also the grace of giving? The ungenerous Christian is
far from complete. In our desire to be shaped by God we must model
that generosity of spirit to be found in Jesus, who, though He was rich,
became poor, that we might live.
For Further Reading: Luke 19:1-10 - Zacchaeus's generosity is unlocked.
To Ponder: What steps do you need to take to excel in the grace of giving?
To Pray: Lord Jesus, may I daily grow in the grace of giving, that like the Christians
in Corinth I may excel in it. Amen.
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