Dave's Diary

Daily Readdings: 2 Corinthians 8 and Psalm 126

In 2 Corinthians 8, Paul wrote again about the offering he was organising for the wellbeing of the famine-stricken Jerusalem Church. He had written to them about this in 1 Corinthians 16, and the Church had responded with great willingness to set aside money regularly and sacrificially for the Christians in Jerusalem (2 Cor. 8:10). Now Paul wrote to them again to explain that Titus and two travelling companions were coming (probably bearing this very letter) to receive the financial gift so that Paul could take it to Jerusalem. He urged them to “finish the work, so that your eager willingness to do it may be matched by your completion of it, according to your means.” (v.11)

Paul inspired them to finish their act of generosity strongly, by holding up the beautiful example of Jesus our Lord. He wrote:

⁹ 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.

Jesus, as the eternal Son of God, possessed the riches and splendour of heaven. He was eternally surrounded by divine glory, power, and majesty. The riches Jesus possessed before becoming incarnate far outweigh any earthly wealth. But because He loved us, He gave all of that up to take on frail human flesh, entering the womb of Mary, being born as a helpless infant, and being raised in poverty and obscurity. He was willing to do this because He loved and valued us humans so profoundly.

Now Paul asked the Corinthians to remember how the love of Jesus moved Him to give Himself for them, and to allow that to inspire them to give themselves and their money with great generosity, for the sake of their impoverished Christian Family in Jerusalem.

Life application: Generosity is Christlikeness. To which fellow-believer can you show Christlike generosity today?