Thursday Devo
Scripture:
2 Corinthians 8:11-13
11 Now you should finish what you started. Let the eagerness you showed in the beginning be matched now by your giving. Give in proportion to what you have. 12 Whatever you give is acceptable if you give it eagerly. And give according to what you have, not what you don’t have. 13 Of course, I don’t mean your giving should make life easy for others and hard for yourselves. I only mean that there should be some equality.
11 Now you should finish what you started. Let the eagerness you showed in the beginning be matched now by your giving. Give in proportion to what you have. 12 Whatever you give is acceptable if you give it eagerly. And give according to what you have, not what you don’t have. 13 Of course, I don’t mean your giving should make life easy for others and hard for yourselves. I only mean that there should be some equality.
Commentary:
8:12 according to what a person has. Paul did not pressure people to give what they did not have or could not afford to give.
8:13–14 Fairness … fairness is in both cases Greek isotēs, which can also mean “equality,” but in Paul’s only other use of the term it means “with fairness” (Col. 4:1). Paul was not asking all Christians to share their possessions equally, for he did not ask these wealthy Corinthians to send money to the poorer Macedonians (see 2 Cor. 8:2); he simply asked that Corinth do its fair share in meeting the extreme needs of the Christians in Jerusalem.
8:13–14 Fairness … fairness is in both cases Greek isotēs, which can also mean “equality,” but in Paul’s only other use of the term it means “with fairness” (Col. 4:1). Paul was not asking all Christians to share their possessions equally, for he did not ask these wealthy Corinthians to send money to the poorer Macedonians (see 2 Cor. 8:2); he simply asked that Corinth do its fair share in meeting the extreme needs of the Christians in Jerusalem.
Questions:
- Finally, Paul gets practical and tells them how much they are to give. They are to give in proportion to what they have. The standard is proportion over portion. This is the WHAT of giving: ACCORDING to what you HAVE. He doesn't give a fixed percentage. But what about the Old Testament standard of tithe (10%)? If you study the New Testament, the tithe seems to be implied. It's a given. We also know Jesus was constantly raising the bar of the Law of Moses. Remember the sermon on the mount? You've heard it said... hate is murder... lust is adultery and so on. When it comes to your giving to the church, how do you go about deciding how much to give?
- At the City, we think the tithe is a great starting point. We also believe God will challenge us to be radically generous. In these verses, Paul is simply saying to give according to what you have. Can it be said of you that you are a generous person? What would it look like to be radically generous?
Pray:
- That you would live and give in light of the Gospel.
- That you would become radically generous.
This Week's City 7:
Try to commit to memory!
6. Is the Bible God’s Word? Jesus proved He is God by rising from the dead and said the Old Testament was God’s Word and gave authority to the Apostles to write the words of the New Testament, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, so that all the words of the Bible are God’s Word.
(Matthew 5:18; Luke 24:27, 44; John 14:25-26, 15:27, 16:12-13, 17:20; Acts 2:42; Ephesians 3:5; 2 Timothy 3:16; 2 Peter 1:16-21)
(Matthew 5:18; Luke 24:27, 44; John 14:25-26, 15:27, 16:12-13, 17:20; Acts 2:42; Ephesians 3:5; 2 Timothy 3:16; 2 Peter 1:16-21)
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