Today, I am reading and commenting on  2 Corinthians 5-8.

I thought about covering several things in today’s passage, but then I came to what Paul wrote about giving in order to aid the Lord’s people who are in need.  First, he commends the Macedonian churches for giving as much as they were able, sometimes even going beyond that level.  Not only did they give willingly, but they plead with Paul for the opportunity to give.  Paul then goes on to commend the church in Corinth for being the first not only to give, but the first with a desire to give.  He encourages them to continue giving according to their ability, and makes special note that God does not call us to give beyond our means.  So, while Paul praised the Macedonian churches for giving beyond their means, he discourages others from doing likewise.

Paul then warns the Corinthian Church that Titus is on his way to them on his mission of collecting for the relief of Believers in need (from elsewhere I believe this to be Believers in Jerusalem who were suffering economic hardship).  This warning is not as a threat, but rather so that they will not be embarrassed by being unprepared to give when Titus gets there.  However, I want to point out the more important point Paul makes here.  He tells them that Titus is accompanied by men who were appointed by the churches which had given to the cause.  The men accompanying Titus were chosen so that no one could claim that Paul or Titus misappropriated the funds.  Paul makes it clear that he encouraged this arrangement so as to avoid any appearance of impropriety.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.