2 Corinthians 9:1-7
1: For it is superfluous for me to write to you about this ministry to the saints;
2: for I know your readiness, of which I boast about you to the Macedonians, namely, that Achaia has been prepared since last year, and your zeal has stirred up most of them.
3: But I have sent the brethren, in order that our boasting about you may not be made empty in this case, so that, as I was saying, you may be prepared;
4: otherwise if any Macedonians come with me and find you unprepared, we—not to speak of you—will be put to shame by this confidence.
5: So I thought it necessary to urge the brethren that they would go on ahead to you and arrange beforehand your previously promised bountiful gift, so that the same would be ready as a bountiful gift and not affected by covetousness.
6: Now this I say, he who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.
7: Each one must do just as he has purposed in his heart, not grudgingly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.
Continuing his thought on giving Paul said it was really not necessary for him to write to them about this ministry to the poor saints in Jerusalem since he was well aware of how eager they were to participate. He even boasted of it. All of Achaia had been prepared for a year and the Corinthians were the biggest cause of that.
However, he still sent the brethren ahead of him to keep them from any embarrassment. For if any of the Macedonians came with him and they were not ready with a generous gift, then they would be ashamed and so would Paul for his boasting. He didn’t want them to be caught off guard and end up giving something out of a last-minute sense of obligation.
Paul explained that he who sowed sparingly would also reap sparingly, and he who sowed bountifully would reap bountifully. There is a reward to giving that is in direct proportion to the amount of the gift. Yet it must be a willing gift given cheerfully, not grudgingly or out of a sense of duty. God loves a cheerful giver. Paul desired for them to give generously, but he wanted it to benefit them as well and understand that it is a seed sown, not something lost forever.
Jesus said to give, and it would be given unto you, and by your standard of measure it will be returned to you (Luke 6:38). He said unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies it remains alone, but if it dies, it bears much fruit (John 12:24). Giving is not the end in the Kingdom of God. Jesus Himself was sown as a seed and resurrected bringing many into the Kingdom with Him.
2: for I know your readiness, of which I boast about you to the Macedonians, namely, that Achaia has been prepared since last year, and your zeal has stirred up most of them.
3: But I have sent the brethren, in order that our boasting about you may not be made empty in this case, so that, as I was saying, you may be prepared;
4: otherwise if any Macedonians come with me and find you unprepared, we—not to speak of you—will be put to shame by this confidence.
5: So I thought it necessary to urge the brethren that they would go on ahead to you and arrange beforehand your previously promised bountiful gift, so that the same would be ready as a bountiful gift and not affected by covetousness.
6: Now this I say, he who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.
7: Each one must do just as he has purposed in his heart, not grudgingly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.
***
Continuing his thought on giving Paul said it was really not necessary for him to write to them about this ministry to the poor saints in Jerusalem since he was well aware of how eager they were to participate. He even boasted of it. All of Achaia had been prepared for a year and the Corinthians were the biggest cause of that.
However, he still sent the brethren ahead of him to keep them from any embarrassment. For if any of the Macedonians came with him and they were not ready with a generous gift, then they would be ashamed and so would Paul for his boasting. He didn’t want them to be caught off guard and end up giving something out of a last-minute sense of obligation.
Paul explained that he who sowed sparingly would also reap sparingly, and he who sowed bountifully would reap bountifully. There is a reward to giving that is in direct proportion to the amount of the gift. Yet it must be a willing gift given cheerfully, not grudgingly or out of a sense of duty. God loves a cheerful giver. Paul desired for them to give generously, but he wanted it to benefit them as well and understand that it is a seed sown, not something lost forever.
Jesus said to give, and it would be given unto you, and by your standard of measure it will be returned to you (Luke 6:38). He said unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies it remains alone, but if it dies, it bears much fruit (John 12:24). Giving is not the end in the Kingdom of God. Jesus Himself was sown as a seed and resurrected bringing many into the Kingdom with Him.
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