Giving is Graceful - 2 Corinthians 8-10

Giving is Graceful 

2 Corinthians 8:1-5 (ESV)
1 We want you to know, brothers, about the grace of God that has been given among the churches of Macedonia, 2 for in a severe test of affliction, their abundance of joy and their extreme poverty have overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part. 3 For they gave according to their means, as I can testify, and beyond their means, of their own accord, 4 begging us earnestly for the favor of taking part in the relief of the saints— 5 and this, not as we expected, but they gave themselves first to the Lord and then by the will of God to us.

A could of the backdrops of the New Testament is the fact that there was a large famine in the land during the building of the church and the church was under extreme persecution for following Christ.  The history is clear on these pressures on the believers.   When we come to chapter eight of this letter we are reading Paul’s instruction about the desire of the Corinthian believers to give to the famine and to aide those who are in persecution (primarily in Jerusalem and, perhaps, Rome).   Paul wants them to be willing to give what they voiced as a desire to do, at least a year earlier:

2 Corinthians 8:10 (ESV)
10 And in this matter I give my judgment: this benefits you, who a year ago started not only to do this work but also to desire to do it.

This group of believers had a desire to give to the relief efforts.  In the above passage we read that it was not out of their own abundance, but it was out of their own “severe test of affiliation.”   But, the key to their desire to give was that it came out of an earnest desire “for favor of taking part in the relief of the saints.”    The world “favor” in this verse is the same Greek word used throughout Scripture for “grace.”   To the Corinthian believers it was an act of God’s grace to be able to share what little they had to care for their brothers and sisters in Christ.    It was God’s grace working in their hearts that caused them to have grace to give to others.   Giving is a matter of sharing grace with others.   Grace is giving something to someone when they don’t necessarily deserve it.  It is not something that is earned.  It is something that is freely given.  This shows the power of giving.  It is the perfect example of God’s grace to us as He gave His Son.   Giving is graceful!!