Wednesday – 2 Corinthians 8:7-9
Paul uses the example of the church in Macedonia to encourage the Corinthians to join in on their generosity to the saints. Interestingly, although he alludes to the far superior standing of the Corinthian churches, he does not command them to give. Is giving really generous if you are forced or even guilted into doing it? Giving should just be a gracious, faith act. Paul encourages the Corinthians and us to see Jesus as the perfect example of gracious, faithful generosity. 8:9 says “that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich.” Just a few chapters before this in 2 Corinthians 5:21, Paul puts it this way: “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”