Christ’s Generosity

2 Corinthians 8:1-9

¹ Now I want you to know, dear brothers and sisters, what God in his kindness has done through the churches in Macedonia. ² They are being tested by many troubles, and they are very poor. But they are also filled with abundant joy, which has overflowed in rich generosity.

³ For I can testify that they gave not only what they could afford, but far more. And they did it of their own free will. ⁴ They begged us again and again for the privilege of sharing in the gift for the believers in Jerusalem. ⁵ They even did more than we had hoped, for their first action was to give themselves to the Lord and to us, just as God wanted them to do.

⁶ So we have urged Titus, who encouraged your giving in the first place, to return to you and encourage you to finish this ministry of giving. ⁷ Since you excel in so many ways—in your faith, your gifted speakers, your knowledge, your enthusiasm, and your love from us—I want you to excel also in this gracious act of giving.

⁸ I am not commanding you to do this. But I am testing how genuine your love is by comparing it with the eagerness of the other churches.

⁹ You know the generous grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. Though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that by his poverty he could make you rich.

Nobody likes to talk about giving. When I visited churches in India, one of us would often be asked to give a communion talk and another to give a ‘giving talk’. I know which one was easier! But both were important because churches need money to function and do the ministry God has called them to.

Paul was a master at the giving talk! Here, he explains generosity to the Corinthian church. First, a bit of background. The Jewish Christians in Jerusalem were in famine. The Christians in Corinth were relatively well off, while those in Macedonia were also finding things tough.  The Corinthian church had planned to give to a fund for the Christians in Jerusalem, but they became complacent. It is easy to get lazy or think that we’ve given before and now it’s someone else’s turn.  Paul tells the Corinthians a story. He is not demanding or coercing them to give, just pointing out the Macedonians’ response to the generosity of Christ. The Corinthians excelled in many things. Paul wants them to excel in generosity as well.

It’s true that generosity starts with Jesus. He was rich with God but gave it all up to come and live as a human and then to suffer terrible persecution, pain and death. He did it out of love for us. His adopted poverty made us rich – not financially, but rich in the blessing of salvation. The Macedonians understood this, and their resulting joy overflowed as generosity. They weren’t focused on their troubles; rather, they focused on God’s kindness and generosity towards them and on the suffering of others in Jerusalem. Because of their hearts, they begged to be involved in helping the Christians who were in famine. They saw it as a privilege to be involved.

This is a challenging passage because it makes me ask questions of myself. If how I view money and what I do with it is a reliable indicator of what I think is important in life, then what does my giving say about my heart? Am I self-focused, or am I Christ-focused? Do I allow the joy of what he’s done for me to overflow as generosity? Do I consider giving a privilege?

Dear Lord Jesus, you were so generous to us. You gave up enormous privilege to come and suffer for us. Please touch my heart freshly today. Let me experience fresh joy at your sacrifice and let that overflow in my generosity.

Written by Megan Cornell

Look at this Bible Project video on generosity for some great insights.