Giving in the New Testament
Fellow believers on NL,
I feel compelled to write on giving in the new testament because of the following reason I  see that while we are being told that tithing is not new testamental the whole truth about new testament giving is not presented and that is quite worrisome to me. If we are sincere  about the issue of giving in the new testament we should not just  present the picture that believers are no longer bound to the 10% tithe while we neglect to teach the whole truth of what God expects of believers regarding giving in the new testament.
By the grace of God I have tried to address the issue of giving in the new testament in this lengthy write up (pls.bear with me):

Firstly,let us examine what our Lord Jesus Christ has to say about giving from the following scriptures:

Luke 6:38
Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again.
Luke 6:37-39

Mark 10:21-22
Then Jesus beholding him loved him, and said unto him, One thing thou lackest: go thy way, sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, take up the cross, and follow me.
22And he was sad at that saying, and went away grieved: for he had great possessions.
Matthew 6:20
But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:
Acts 20:35
I have shewed you all things, how that so labouring ye ought to support the weak, and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, It is more blessed to give than to receive.
Mark 12:43
And he called unto him his disciples, and saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, That this poor widow hath cast more in, than all they which have cast into the treasury:
Mark 12:42-44  42 And there came a certain poor widow, and she threw in two mites, which make a farthing.
43 And he called unto him his disciples, and saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, That this poor widow hath cast more in, than all they which have cast into the treasury: 
44For all they did cast in of their abundance; but she of her want did cast in all that she had, even all her living.
From the foregoing it is clear that The Lord requires of us 100% of whatever we own, the poor widow was commended by The Lord because she made the 100% honor roll( Mk 12:42-44). Jesus asked the rich young ruler to do same but he could not rise to that standard but went away sorrowfully.( Mark 10:21-22)

Secondly let us examine what the early believers practiced after Christ’s earthly ministry from the scriptures below:
Acts 4:34
Neither was there any among them that lacked: for as many as were possessors of lands or houses sold them, and brought the prices of the things that were sold,
Acts 4:33-35 (in Context) Acts 4 (Whole Chapter)
Acts 4:37
Having land, sold it, and brought the money, and laid it at the apostles' feet.
Acts 4:36-37 (in Context) Acts 4 (Whole Chapter)
2 Corinthians 9:7
Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver.
2 Corinthians 9:6-8

Neither was there any among them that lacked: for as many as were possessors of lands or houses sold them, and brought the prices of the things that were sold……….(Acts 4:34)  And Joses……,  having land sold it and brought the money ,and laid it at the apostles’feet ( Acts 4:36-37) wow another 100% honor roller .
Yep it looks like the early Christians were following the way of the widow who gave all her living,  that is all were giving bountifully unto the Lord, giving at the 100% cap, probably a very plausible reason  we could not find the apostles teaching the believers to give the meager 10% tithe because guess what the early Christians understood they were suppose to go above and beyond the 10% tithe.
So God does not just require our miserly 10% tithe PTL cos we are no longer under the law right!, we are in the dispensation of grace where God owns our all and His standard of  the freewill offering is our 100%, this Christ commended as exemplified by the poor widow (Mark 12:42-44 ) and this Christ also recommended (rich young ruler, Mark 10:21) during His earthly ministry and this is what the early believers practiced as narrated  in  Acts 4:33-35  and Acts 4:36-37.

Now the question is if God expects 100% of all our income is this practicable giving the fact that we have to take care of other basic necessities of life ?(I bet that was what the rich young ruler thought too and that is why he went away sorrowfully and could not trust the Lord to take care of his need).I believe this is possible depending on the frequency of  such type of giving and how God directs our hearts, the examples that were given in the new testament of those who gave at the 100% cap did not specify the frequency with which a particular individual gave at that level but it sure left us a principle and guide to follow.This is where we see that giving unto the Lord is a spiritual thing and we know that as many are led by the spirit of God are the sons of God. Ananias and Saphira did not quite understand the principle behind this type of giving, they saw everybody dropping the full price of their houses or landed property and wanted to fit in to the 100% club while their heart did not release the full price,they were judged instantly and stricken dead for deceiving the Holy Spirit.(Acts 5:1-10 )
Paul’s admonition to the Corinthians help sheds more light on how we should give - that we should give as we have purposed in our hearts cheerfully(2 Corinthians 9:7)  however Paul did not just stop here the preceding and latter verses admonished us to give bountifully, not sparingly and to abound in every good work of  which giving is a part. (2 Corinthians 9:6-8 )
Let us be sincere with ourselves what does bountiful and to abound means:is it giving at < 10%, at =10% or at  >10%? if I invest in some businesses and I made 10% profit on A, 20% profit on B and 50% on C and 100% profit on D. Let us be the judge which one of this businesses has brought in a bountiful profit?
Scripturally speaking as new testament believers we are no longer bound by 10% tithing but let it be also known and proclaimed that God has left us a principle that should be our guide when we give: God owns our all not just the sparing 10% tithe, he wants us to understand that the 100% of what we own is His. So when you do the math as you purpose in your heart to give remember Christ’s standard is 100% and Paul’s admonition is bountifully.

Bottom line a heart that is fully surrendered to the Lord would not find it difficult to surrender the totatily of his/her pocket when The Lord demands it and a heart that is truly committed  unto the Lord and His work would give bountifully and cheerfully unto the Lord not of necessity and grudgingly.

A heart that is Christ centered would understand that his/her giving is unto the Lord and not unto the pastors or physical building where he /she drops his/her offerings.

A heart that is fully surrendered unto the Lord would not be so worried about what some so called Pastors are doing to the offerings to the extent that he/she would no longer give and go contrary to the word of God.( Luke 6:38 )

Please let us take a cue from Hannah who still believed  Eli as a prophet despite being wrongfully called a drunkard by him, I guess in today’s world some so called “believers” would have reigned abuses on the prophet for being insensitive to the spirit of God, PTL it was the same Eli that God used to answer Hannah’s prayer because Hannah saw beyond the prophet and knew she was dealing with God. (1 Samuel 1:19-21, 1 Samuel 2:20-22 ).

Take a cue from Samuel who continued to serve under Eli despite Eli son’s atrocities and his complacent attitude towards them,did God eventually judge Eli and his sons-yes he did! And Samuel was made priest in his stead.

Take a cue from David who would not lay his hand on king Saul because Saul’s was the Lord’s anointed,  David saw beyond king Saul and had respect for the King of Kings and His word. God eventually honored David and Saul was judged by God.

So what is the conclusion of the whole matter my dear brethren let us purpose in our hearts to give bountifully unto the Lord of that which he has blessed of us with and as for the shepherds that has turned the Lord’s house in to a money making industry and amassing empires for themselves at the expense of the Lord’s flock,God would surely visit them as He did visit Eli,his sons and king Saul,let us look beyond them knowing that our service is un to the Lord and not men.
God said categorically vengeance is mine,I will repay saith the Lord (Romans 12:19) and remember the wrath of man does not work the righteousness of God.( James 1:20)
Let us beware of the half truth heretical doctrine that recommends against the 10% tithing but does not teach us the whole truth of Christian giving which is to abound in giving as exemplified in the new testament.2 Corinthians 9:6-8
Shalom,
Jesarmy.

Well said, thankyou

THANKS FOR YOUR WRITE UP

ACTUALLY THE BIBLE IS TRUE AND COMPLETE IN ALL SENSE. IT REQUIRES A DILIGENT SEEKER TO KNOW THE TRUTH. sEARCH FOR THE TRUTH, DO NOT LET IT GO OUT OF YOUR HEART; THEN YOU SHALL BE MADE FREE

@Jesarmy,

Good job. I thank God that we have believers in Christ who love and want to serve the Lord as a living sacrifice. May the Lord give you more wisdom and grace to keep up the good fight of faith.

@jersamy
Before you quote the scriptures out of context too much, kindly note that 90% of teachings on giving in the new testament was directed at giving to the poor and NOT the church as is being errornously being preached today. You are also guilty of half truths. Even going by your half baked post only the widows mite qualifies as giving to the church by today's standards. So I would suggest you be a good christian and emphasize on the focus of new testament giving as taught by christ and the apostles.

@ladygaga,Aby theone and Olaadegbu,
Thanks for the word of encouragement,the seed  has been planted,let us continue to water it with prayers and may the Lord of the harvest give the increase.

Jagoon:

@jersamy
Before you quote the scriptures out of context too much, kindly note that 90% of teachings on giving in the new testament was directed at giving to the poor and NOT the church as is being errornously being preached today.
Can you please provide the new testament scriptures you used in your data analysis to justify the statement above.
You are also guilty of half truths. Even going by your half baked post only the widows mite qualifies as giving to the church by today's standards.
If you read my post carefully you would see that your assertion above is false Acts 4:33-37  tells us that the brethren brought the prices of the things that were sold to the apostle's feet which qualifies as giving to the church by today's standards.
So I would suggest you be a good christian and emphasize on the focus of new testament giving as taught by christ and the apostles.

The last statement above refers-
Good suggestion that is what I have embarked upon by  starting this thread in the first place! .
Now the next step would be to look at how the distribution of the things that were given were made and who/what they were supposed to service,so be my guest and please stay tuned .
Shalom,
Jesarmy

@jesarmy


Young lady nobody is against anybody contibuting money to the church .What we are fighting is the hretical teachines taht christians are reuired to pay 10% of heir earnings to the church.

It must be stated that here is no such taching in the bible ,so any body teaches such practise is a fraudster.

Mind you while tithe was still valid it was paid once in 3 years,[/b]todays pas tors demand it monthly,weeekly and even daily.

[b]Let us beware of the half truth heretical doctrine that recommends the 10% tithing but does not teach us the whole truth of Christian giving which is to abound in giving as exemplified in the new testament.2 Corinthians 9:6-7

@jersamy
Before you quote the scriptures out of context too much, kindly note that 90% of teachings on giving in the new testament was directed at giving to the poor and NOT the church as is being errornously being preached today.

Jesarmy:

Can you please provide the new testament scriptures you used in your data analysis to justify the statement above.

I won't even go very far it is obvious from the scriptures you posted and twisted to mean giving to the church all you have to do is go back and read them in proper context and you would discover they were addressing giving to the poor and NOT the church. As per the Acts 4:33-37 which again you quote out of context, what did the passage say the apostles did with the collections? Is it the same thing your pastors do with church collections today. Infact that scripture is one of the strongest evidence in the bible that NT giving is targeted at the poor and needy i would re-produce it here:Acts 4:32-35:

32. And they felt that what they owned was not their own, so they shared everything they had. 33 The apostles testified powerfully to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and God’s great blessing was upon them all. 34 There were no needy people among them, because those who owned land or houses would sell them 35 and bring the money to the apostles to give to those in need.

It is obvious from he above passage that NT giving was ultimately targeted at the poor and the needy and not our greedy clergy of today who caim the money is to be exclusively used to support the ministry which means them.

@Post
After having realised that tithing is illegal and not directed at christians, you guys now go back to the drawing board and look for further ways to debase, distort the bible and turn scriptures on there head all in the cuase of justifying the evil marmon worship that has taken over most of your churches and also to defend your so called "men of God's" love for filthy lucre. Did you actually read all those scriptures you posted in trying to justify giving excesively to the church?? As jagoon as rightly pointed out how many of them actually address the issue of giving to the church when quoted in the proper context which it was written. Aren't you people tired of twisting the word of God what does it profit you? God asked us to help the poor amongst us yet you people gleefully twist those scriptures to mean giving to the church. Is that not robbing the poor?? Is that not sinful? The truth is that if the church and christians are keeping the mandate of giving to the poor and being our brothers keeper poverty in the land would be brought to a barest minimum and christianity would be a more meaningful religion as God intended. But instead our greedy preachers and their cohorts like you are now using those same scriptures to feed their greed. As the scriptures say in 2 peter 2:3 they have already judged them selves and their destroyer is awake waiting for them.

I think I should post an article I wrote in a blog of mine sometime last year on giving. It's quite different from the OP's.
Here it goes:

Give and it shall be given unto you…

This is a portion of the bible that is very commonly used in churches practically every time. It is very common to note in most churches that Pastors usually interpret this portion of the bible to mean; people should give money to God, or to the work of God.

Interpreting that portion of the bible to mean giving of money to the work of God or to God is very wrong. That portion of the bible came from Luke 6:38 and it goes as follows:



“Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again.”



Looking at this passage critically, there is nothing to suggest that it means giving of money to the church, God or even the work of God. It does not even suggest that what is to be given is money.

But what we have today is various pastors using this passage as a backing to make people give money for offerings, church projects, and also to “the work of God”.



Rather what this passage is letting us understand; when properly read, is the kind of nature or attitude that we should have as regards our relations to other people. When the passage says give, it is saying that we should have a giving nature towards others in practically every aspect of our lives. We should be able to give of our knowledge, our time, our friendship, our help, our possessions, our skills, our love, our resources, our sympathy, our personalities, our abundance, our little, etc. to the benefit of others. This much can be gathered from reading the bible passage properly and within the context it was used.

Reading the few earlier verses before the verse in question (specifically from Luke 6:27 down to Luke 6:38), it is very clear that Jesus Christ was talking about the nature and way by which we should relate with other people. This clearly throws out the interpretation given by many pastors that Luke 6:38 is talking about giving to God so as to receive from him in good measure.



Looking further through that verse, we can see that it says that we should give, and it shall be given unto us; good measure, pressed down,……. and the rest. Two major points to note in this verse are that when we give to meet the needs of others, it creates room and opportunity for others to give to meet our own needs when they arise; and it is with the same measure that we used in giving to others that would determine or be used in the giving to meet our own needs when they arise. So the way and manner by which we carry out our giving nature determines the way and manner by which others would give unto us when the need arises.

Another point to note in that verse comes from, “….shall men give into your bosom”. The point here is that men(men and women/human beings) are the ones that will give to us; which happens as a result of our giving unto them. The passage didn’t say, “…, shall God give into your bosom”, clearly indicating here that the giving in question is not about giving unto God but unto fellow men and women like ourselves.



So, when Pastors use this verse to make people give money to “God” or “the work of God”, they are clearly in the wrong and should stop doing so.

This does not mean that the bible does not encourage people to give to support the work of the gospel. The bible encourages it but according to the wish and desire of the givers and not according to the wish, desires and coercing of the Pastors. If the people wish to give to support the work of the gospel or any projects for the gospel, it should be as they can and will because the bible says in 2 Corinthians 9:7:-



“Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver.”



This verse above applies to all forms of giving in our lives; whether to friends, relatives, strangers, Pastors, orphans, widows, homeless, poor, needy, sick, church needs or projects, etc.



People should give to whoever or whatever as they purpose and not as Pastors would want them to give. These days, we see in various churches, pastors preaching messages on giving that go against the giving that the bible talked about. We see people giving because they have been led to develop greedy and covetous natures after being taught that if they want to receive from God in abundance they should give abundantly of their income and resources. We see people giving; not of a liberal or cheerful heart, but because they have been pressured or coerced into giving by their pastors who have suave and cunning methods up their sleeves to make people depart with large chunks of their income to the benefit of the church’s treasury; methods that are not approved by the word of God(their definite defense would most certainly be “the end/need justifies the means”).



Pastors should teach the truth about giving and receiving and stop deceiving people with their selfish schemes. The bible has the truth about giving. The Pastors should propagate that truth. They should then leave their congregation or people to make choices of their own on when, how and why they should give.

If needs have to be met in the church, a very acceptable way of handling such needs as regards giving, is for the pastors to mention the needs to the people/congregation and then encourage the people to give as each of them purpose to give; which is of a cheerful and liberal mind, and they should leave it at that. If the pastors have done the proper and right work in instructing the people about the word of God and also encouraging them to study it regularly, giving to meet the needs of the church would come naturally and easily of the people. If the giving meets the needs, to God be the glory; if the giving falls short of the needs, to God be the glory, for God will always supply our needs according to his riches in glory through Christ Jesus(Philippians 4:19).



Just another exposition that I thought I’d put down for the benefit of everyone who is a Christian

I would like to thank everybody that has made their contribution so far on this issue of giving the bible says iron sharpeneth iron, I would implore us to please be open minded and be respectful of each other as we make our contributions.
Having said this I would like to point out what my post so far has tried to establish is that while it is true that 10% tithing is not mandatory for new testament believers, it is also unscriptural to suggest that giving to the Lord through our local assemblies should be done away with.



Like I pointed out from Acts 4:33-37 the brethren sold their properties and brought the prices of the things that were sold to the apostles feet, it is very clear from the scriptures here the sequence of events -there was first of all giving, followed by  a gathering at the apostle’s feet and lastly the distribution to the needs of the saints. So essentially before there can be a distribution, giving and collection has to occur first. I am a little taken aback by  Kunleoshob ‘s allegation that I support churches who amass wealth to themselves at the expense of their flocks, if you read my post carefully this is what I said about them just in case it skipped your eyes here is the quote[b]“as for the shepherds that has turned the Lord’s house in to a money making industry and amassing empires for themselves at the expense of the Lord’s flock,God would surely visit them as He did visit Eli,his sons and king Saul,let us look beyond them knowing that our service is unto the Lord and not men”.[/b] So my brethren consider my post in its totality before you draw your conclusions,as touching the issue of giving when you give do you consider your giving as a spiritual service unto the Lord or as giving to the pastors or to the physical church building or simply a philanthropist gesture to your fellow human being? Personally I see my giving as a service to honor the Lord.

Here are some reasons backed by scriptural references why we give to God in the first place:

The Lord requires it as an honor to Him (Proverbs 3:9) and God called who do not give their offerings to Him robbers- Malachi 3:8, yes we may try to wiggle out of the tithe issue as not new testamental but that verse of scripture also mentioned offerings PTL which is what is required of us in the new testament right?

Proverbs 3:9 (King James Version)
9 Honour the LORD with thy substance, and with the firstfruits of all thine increase:

Malachi 3:8 (King James Version)
8Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings.


Secondly we give unto the Lord for the sustenance of His ministers and the expansion of His kingdom.

1 Corinthians 9:8-10 (King James Version)
8 Say I these things as a man? or saith not the law the same also?
9 For it is written in the law of Moses, thou shalt not muzzle the mouth of the ox that treadeth out the corn. Doth God take care for oxen?
10 Or saith he it altogether for our sakes? For our sakes, no doubt, this is written: that he that ploweth should plow in hope; and that he that thresheth in hope should be partaker of his hope.


1 Timothy 5:17-19 (King James Version)
17 Let the elders that rule well be counted worthy of double honour, especially they who labour in the word and doctrine.
18 For the scripture saith, thou shalt not muzzle the ox that treadeth out the corn. And, The labourer is worthy of his reward.
19 Against an elder receive not an accusation, but before two or three witnesses.
Thirdly we give unto the Lord in order to minister to fellow saints and to support the weak.

2 Corinthians 8:4
Praying us with much intreaty that we would receive the gift, and take upon us the fellowship of the ministering to the saints.
2 Corinthians 8:3-5
2 Corinthians 9:1
For as touching the ministering to the saints, it is superfluous for me to write to you:
2 Corinthians 9:1-3
Hebrews 6:10
For God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labour of love, which ye have shewed toward his name, in that ye have ministered to the saints, and do minister.

Acts 20:35
I have shewed you all things, how that so labouring ye ought to support the weak, and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, It is more blessed to give than to receive.

Now the problem is that some have tried to emphasize the third reason alone while neglecting to affirm the first two, no matter how they try to argue it the scriptures can not be broken and the word of God stands sure for evermore.

For those who are sincerely passionate about the needy brethren in their church and  community, their contributions should be on how we can ensure that the money that is brought in to the church is used to service the needs of the poor in our churches and communities at large as admonished by Paul.(Galatians 6:10)

When there was a problem of distribution to the needy in the Acts of Apostles the problem was not resolved by calling it quits with giving but rather a committee of elders full of the holy ghost was appointed  by the Apostles to see to the daily ministration of the needy in the church .Acts 6
This I believe is a peaceful step in the right direction that can be brought to the attention of church leaders who might be failing in distributing to the needy in the church.   



In a nutshell, though I am definitely not happy with the way ‘some so called men of God’ profane the Lord’s offering and amass wealth to themselves while their congregation languish in poverty, it would be contrary to the scriptures to counsel  people to stop giving to the Lord.
I would appreciate more positive contributions from believers based on scriptures on how we can ensure that our churches are more involved in meeting the needs of the poor, since this indeed is a critical problem in some churches today.
Shalom,
Jesarmy

@jersamy
Please don't get me wrong, i am totally in support of giving to the ministry to suppport the gospel [ I don't use the term giving to God as it runs contrary to scripture Acts 17:24-25 and it is not possible to give to God]. I believe using the term "give to God is not only mis-leading but is insulting to the almighty] however we are supposed to give to support miniters of the gospel. My grouse however is that the emphasis of christian giving in the bible was the poor and the needy in other wards christian giving is more about supporting the less priviledge than than just the minitry becos taking care of the poor and needy is an intergral part of the gospel of christ. However this all important role we christians are supoosed to play in physically and financially assisting the less priviledge is being ignored and the same scriptures that teach us to give to the needy is being twisted by our church leaders to mean giving to them, this i believe is most immoral, greedy and unchrist like. Even going by he example of the apostles in Acts 4 we can see that even church collections were being used to take care of the needy [and not just the clergy] that is the example i beleive we should emulate as christians. The question that begs to be answered is this : how many churches actually use a large percentage of there collections to assist the needy as exemplified by the founding fathers of our faith?? What sets christianity apart is the selfless nature of the doctrines established by christ and the apsotles but today what we hear in churches is very self centred. If we really believe the gospel of christ then we should put it to practise as exemplified by the apostles.

I came across this scripture on giving in the new testament, hope it blesses us all.

2 Corinthians 8:1-15:
Christian giving   
1 Now I want you to know, dear brothers and sisters,[a] what God in his kindness has done through the churches in Macedonia. 2 They are being tested by many troubles, and they are very poor. But they are also filled with abundant joy, which has overflowed in rich generosity.

   3 For I can testify that they gave not only what they could afford, but far more. And they did it of their own free will. 4 They begged us again and again for the privilege of sharing in the gift for the believers[b] in Jerusalem. 5 They even did more than we had hoped, for their first action was to give themselves to the Lord and to us, just as God wanted them to do.

   6 So we have urged Titus, who encouraged your giving in the first place, to return to you and encourage you to finish this ministry of giving. 7 Since you excel in so many ways—in your faith, your gifted speakers, your knowledge, your enthusiasm, and your love from us[c]—I want you to excel also in this gracious act of giving.

   8 I am not commanding you to do this. But I am testing how genuine your love is by comparing it with the eagerness of the other churches.

   9 You know the generous grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. Though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that by his poverty he could make you rich.

   10 Here is my advice: It would be good for you to finish what you started a year ago. Last year you were the first who wanted to give, and you were the first to begin doing it. 11 Now you should finish what you started. Let the eagerness you showed in the beginning be matched now by your giving. Give in proportion to what you have. 12 Whatever you give is acceptable if you give it eagerly. And give according to what you have, not what you don’t have. 13 Of course, I don’t mean your giving should make life easy for others and hard for yourselves. I only mean that there should be some equality. 14 Right now you have plenty and can help those who are in need. Later, they will have plenty and can share with you when you need it. In this way, things will be equal. 15 As the Scriptures say,

   “Those who gathered a lot had nothing left over,
      and those who gathered only a little had enough.

KunleOshob:

I came across this scripture on giving in the new testament, hope it blesses us all.

2 Corinthians 8:1-15:
Christian giving
1 Now I want you to know, dear brothers and sisters,[a] what God in his kindness has done through the churches in Macedonia. 2 They are being tested by many troubles, and they are very poor. But they are also filled with abundant joy, which has overflowed in rich generosity.

3 For I can testify that they gave not only what they could afford, but far more. And they did it of their own free will. 4 They begged us again and again for the privilege of sharing in the gift for the believers[b] in Jerusalem. 5 They even did more than we had hoped, for their first action was to give themselves to the Lord and to us, just as God wanted them to do.

6 So we have urged Titus, who encouraged your giving in the first place, to return to you and encourage you to finish this ministry of giving. 7 Since you excel in so many ways—in your faith, your gifted speakers, your knowledge, your enthusiasm, and your love from us[c]—I want you to excel also in this gracious act of giving.

8 I am not commanding you to do this. But I am testing how genuine your love is by comparing it with the eagerness of the other churches.

9 You know the generous grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. Though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that by his poverty he could make you rich.

10 Here is my advice: It would be good for you to finish what you started a year ago. Last year you were the first who wanted to give, and you were the first to begin doing it. 11 Now you should finish what you started. Let the eagerness you showed in the beginning be matched now by your giving. Give in proportion to what you have. 12 Whatever you give is acceptable if you give it eagerly. And give according to what you have, not what you don’t have. 13 Of course, I don’t mean your giving should make life easy for others and hard for yourselves. I only mean that there should be some equality. 14 Right now you have plenty and can help those who are in need. Later, they will have plenty and can share with you when you need it. In this way, things will be equal. 15 As the Scriptures say,

“Those who gathered a lot had nothing left over,
and those who gathered only a little had enough.

He who has ears let him listen.