The Grace of Giving

"So we urged Titus, that as he had begun, so he would also complete this grace in you as well. ⁷ But as you abound in everything--in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in all diligence, and in your love for us--see that you abound in this grace also. ⁸ I speak not by commandment, but I am testing the sincerity of your love by the diligence of others. ⁹ For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich."

2 Corinthians 8:6-9 

At Calvary Chapel Sydney we are studying through 2 Corinthians on Sunday mornings.  Paul reminded the Corinthians of their initial desire and interest to give to others in need.  Despite their willingness to give, their good intentions for a year had not been acted upon.  Paul commended them for their great faith, speech, knowledge, all diligence, and love, yet they stopped short of excelling in the grace of giving.  Following through in giving according to their good intentions was a test of the sincerity of their love.  Jesus was cited as the standard for giving, One who chose to become poor to make others rich.

God continually supplies new tests for His people to take.  Each exam is designed by God to challenge us individually.  God has a way of combining familiar material with bits completely foreign to us.  There are often portions we have been exposed to before, yet it doesn't mean we will always perform well.  God is wise to include bits we are unprepared for to draw us closer to Him in repentance, to remind us we do not know everything, and as an impetus for us to humbly seek Him for the answers on future exams.  I don't enjoy being tested, but God uses tests to show His love and care for us, to affirm we are His, to give us an opportunity to grow, and to do well where we have always failed before.

Like sitting an exam at school, completing it is an exercise of the will.  No one can make you sit a test.  No one can force you to read the questions, pick up the pencil, and fill in the correct answers.  God will not force you to sit an exam He provides.  Sometimes passing a test is required before we can move on to another test!  But it is folly to avoid a test God supplies, because not sitting an exam is the surest way to fail.  We do better to score poorly on a test than to refuse to try!  Our poor scores reveal our need to learn and grow.  If we refuse to sit God's tests we will never know through experience where our weaknesses are.  God's tests are not completed in classrooms, but in our interactions with Him and others through our words, attitudes, thoughts, and actions.  I have never scored perfectly on a test God supplied for me because I am not perfect.  God gives us encouragement through small improvements, and should our "success" go to our heads He will give us the most basic test again so we might fail miserably and recognise our need for complete dependance on Him.

How fitting it is for us to seek to excel in the grace of giving, even as our Saviour gave Himself freely as a sacrifice for sin.  Jon Courson wrote in his Bible Application Commentary:  "Born in a borrowed cradle, Jesus preached from a borrowed boat, rode into Jerusalem on a borrowed donkey, ate His Last Supper in a borrowed room, and was buried in a borrowed grave.  He who made everything laid it all down and entered into total poverty that I might be rich...To the person not in love with Jesus, giving is a difficult, painful, arduous, burdensome task.  He who loves Jesus, on the other hand, welcomes the opportunity to demonstrate his love." (pg. 1132)  Are you willing to take the "sincerity of love by giving" test?  Whatever test God sets before you this week, see that you do all in your power to pass by the riches of His grace.