Tag: 2 Corinthians

Digging in Deeper: 2 Corinthians 9:7

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“Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.”  (ESV – Read the chapter)

What is it that makes a cheerful giver so much better than otherwise?  Well, who wants a begrudging gift?  I sure don’t.  When someone gives something under compulsion, it tends to take all the joy out of receiving for the recipient.

What’s more, when someone is giving to God under compulsion, that person is treating giving like a religious exercise.  You do a religious exercise not because you want to or because it’s the right thing to do, but because if you don’t, you will incur the wrath of the deity you are trying to appease.  No one wants to do that.  God makes abundantly clear in the Scriptures that He has absolutely no interest in that kind of thing.  He’d rather people not even bothering trying if all they’re going to give Him is a half-hearted religiosity.  He wants our hearts, not our wallets. Read the rest…

Morning Musings: 2 Corinthians 6:14

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“Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers.  For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness?  Or what fellowship has light with darkness?”  (ESV – Read the chapter)

This is a tough verse.  It’s tough mostly because of its implications.  I don’t think Paul’s point here is that we need to cloister ourselves off from the world.  Rather, we should not attach ourselves to the world in such a way that we are depending on it for the things for which we should primarily depend on the Lord. Read the Rest…

Digging in Deeper: 2 Corinthians 8:12-15

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“For if the readiness is there, it is acceptable according to what a person has, not according to what he does not have.  For I do not mean that others should be eased and you burdened, but that as a matter of fairness your abundance at the present time should supply their need, so that their abundance may supply your need, that there may be fairness.  As it is written, ‘Whoever gathered much had nothing left over, and whoever gathered little had no lack.'”  (ESV – Read the chapter)

Tithing is a big issue in most churches.  While our power and sustaining comes from God, His provision most often comes via the money our members give.  Sometimes that giving is generous.  Sometimes it isn’t.  (And the amount of the giving has little to do with the level of generosity it reflects.)

What all this means, is that churches need money to make ministry happen.  That doesn’t sound terribly holy, but it’s no less true for that.  That’s the nature of the world we live in, and while God isn’t limited to that, He tends to work within it more often than not.  What this means further is that talking about giving is something all churches have to do on occasion. Read the rest…

Digging in Deeper: 2 Corinthians 7:10

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“For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death.”  (ESV – Read the chapter)

One of the phrases people sometimes use in a moment of exasperation is, “Good grief!”  Charlie Brown is particularly famous for saying this.  But, if you’re at all like me, you’ve always kind of wondered at this phrase because grief isn’t good.  Right?  No one wants to grieve and when we are it means something has gone wrong, doesn’t it?  Well…not necessarily. Read the rest…

Morning Musings: 2 Corinthians 4:16-18

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“So we do not lose heart.  Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day.  For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen.  For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.”  (ESV – Read the chapter)

If we let them, the troubles of this world will completely overwhelm us and leave us unable to pursue the path of Jesus with anything resembling the commitment we need in order to gain the benefits from it.  Problems in our marriages, problems with our kids, troubles at work, hardships at school, financial challenges, family issues, interpersonal doubts, and so on can fill our field of view until we don’t see anything else.  They become the lens through which we see everything else.  Depression (not clinical), discouragement, and malaise become our constant companions. Read the rest…