Heart

From 2 Corinthians 8 (The Message)

So here's what I think: The best thing you can do right now is to finish what you started last year and not let those good intentions grow stale. Your heart's been in the right place all along.

You've got what it takes to finish it up, so go to it.

Once the commitment is clear, you do what you can, not what you can't. The heart regulates the hands. This isn't so others can take it easy while you sweat it out. No, you're shoulder to shoulder with them all the way, your surplus matching their deficit, their surplus matching your deficit. In the end you come out even.

As it is written,

Nothing left over to the one with the most,

Nothing lacking to the one with the least.

Paul is out "stumping" for an offering in this scripture, right?

He's just told the Corinthians about the generous giving of their brothers and sisters in Macedonia.

He is encouraging the Corinthians to give, and to give generously from their abundance.

Why give?

Well, based on Paul's words, it seems that giving, when you have the opportunity (or more truthfully, the inclination...everybody has the opportunity), helps things "even out." And that makes God happy.

Giving isn't just an action. It's an attitude of the heart. It's an inclination. It's a way of life, a posture of gratitude.

For Paul, it is "finishing what was started," among the Corinthians. It is the natural outgrowth of grace in the life of a maturing disciple.

Let me put it as plainly as Paul did. Here's the deal: the heart regulates the hands. So let's look at our giving...it's a window into our hearts.

Grace & Peace --

Adam