The Bible tells us that God so loved the world that he gave His only begotten Son. He was not obligated and he didn’t do it out of a sense of responsibility. He did it out of love. God is a giving God, generous in everything that He has ever wanted for us. We see God’s generosity in creation and in the cross. As we experience the grace that was demonstrated at the cross, we begin a process of being restored and conformed to the nature of God, a nature that includes generosity. If God our Father was generous, then so should we, His children, be generous.

For further consideration

Why do you think Paul praised the example of the Macedonian churches? How would this example of their generosity have made you feel if you had been a Corinthian Christian receiving this letter? Can you think of a time when you were the beneficiary of someone else’s generosity? Have you experienced the generosity of the salvation that God freely offers to those who will believe? How generous with the gospel are you towards those who have yet to experience it? What can you do this week to display the generosity of the gospel?