NEW TESTAMENT GENEROSITY
WHY THEY GAVE
In II Corinthians 8, Paul described the believers at Macedonia, and how, in spite of “fierce troubles,” they were incredibly happy, though desperately poor, and how they made an outpouring of pure and generous gifts. The following is a summation of the ways and means by which they did this.
- They gave sacrificially. (8:2-3) The Macedonians were poor, yet they were able to sacrifice. It did not lessen their generosity but actually magnified it.
- They gave supernaturally. (8:3) They gave “beyond their ability” because their giving was empowered and enlarged by God. The fact is…you don’t have to possess great sums of money to be a large giver.
- They gave joyfully. (8:2) Paul tells us that they gave out of “their abundance of joy…” and II Corinthians 9 reminds us that “God loves a cheerful giver.” Also in II Corinthians 9 we learn that the grace of God is directly connected with giving. When we fail to see giving as a grace it becomes a burden instead of the blessing God means it to be.
- They gave willingly. (8:3) They “gave of their own accord…” They saw a need and responded.
- They gave eagerly. (8:5) They were eager to give because to them, it was a privilege.
- They gave unexpectedly. (8:5) Paul says that they gave “not as we had expected” because he knew of their desperate poverty.
- They gave personally. (8:5-6) The Macedonians “first gave themselves to the lord…” They knew God wanted them before wanting their gifts.
The giving of the Macedonians, in Paul’s words, “flowed out of the purposes of God working in their lives.”