Express Love to Other Believers By Giving Them Money - 2 Corinthians 8-9

2 Corinthians 8:24 (ESV)

So give proof before the churches of your love and of our boasting about you to these men.

If you read chapters eight and nine of 1 Corinthians, you will read about the needs of some churches who are living in poverty.  But, yet, out of their poverty they are willing to give to other churches who are going through a famine and persecution (losing their jobs due to their profession of faith in Christ).   Paul is writing to the church at Corinth to thank them for their willingness to give, but to also remind them to follow-through on that willingness.  In the middle of these two chapters we read the above verse.  It is the transition from eight to nine.  Chapter eight is made up of this inspirational message to say thanks for being willing, but let’s follow-through, and informing them of who is coming to collect their gift.   Chapter nine is the actual instructions on what to give and how to give it.   But in the above verse we have very powerful principle unfolded for us.  Paul plainly tells them that showing love to other Christians involved, in this case, giving money to the poor among them. In our modern day evangelical circles we certainly see a desire to help others.  But there may be some question, as apparently there was for the church at Corinth,  about giving to the poor.   It should be noted that Paul is not telling them that by giving to the poor they will be saved.  He is telling that that by giving to the poor your love for Christ will be demonstrated in your expression of love for His children.   He is collecting money for the Christians that have been persecuted in Jerusalem for their outward profession of faith.  Most lost their jobs as a result.  Along with a severe famine, these fellow believers needed help.   This is who their gifts are for.  The context for their giving was to the saints among them.   This is not a passage you can point to regarding the giving of money to the poor of mankind.  It does not, however, forbid that (there are other passages that teach we should).  But this passage is about seeing the needs of the saints of the church and giving to them to express our love for Christ in doing so.   When we hear of Christians in other areas who are struggling financially, this passage tells us to do more than just pray for them, and actually love them through our giving.