For I mean not that other men be eased, and ye burdened:
Giving is not meant to ease some by laying an unfair burden on others, but to bring about equality and fairness. That equality means present abundance supplies present want, so that when circumstances reverse abundance on the other side supplies want in turn. It is illustrated by the gathering of the manna, where he that gathered much had nothing over and he that gathered little had no lack when measured with an omer. A gift is accepted when there is first a willing mind, according to what a person has and not according to what he does not have, and the pattern is the churches of Macedonia who in deep poverty gave willingly to and beyond their power, and Christ who though rich became poor so that through His poverty others might be rich. The plan is for the burdens of the church to be shared equally in proportion to each one's ability, with those who have more than enough binding about their own wants to help the needy, and with institutions and workers curtailing large plans to share advantages with destitute fields rather than enriching themselves.
Meaning of Equality
Paul does not intend relief for some believers to come by laying an unfair weight on others, for Christian giving is meant to produce equality and fairness rather than easing one group while burdening another. In the setting of 2 Corinthians 8 and 9 this calls for willing self-denial and shared sacrifice, so that God's people are blessed without shifting hardship onto others. Equality means present abundance supplies present want, with the expectation that abundance on each side will in turn supply the other's want when circumstances reverse and mutual help becomes possible. Those whose abundance meets another's present want give in answer to earnest prayer, moved by the Holy Spirit, trusting their own future want will likewise be supplied.
This equality is explained and illustrated by the gathering of the manna, where some gathered more and some less than the stipulated amount, yet when measured with an omer he that gathered much had nothing over and he that gathered little had no lack. A gift is accepted when there is first a willing mind, according to what a person has and not according to what he does not have. God can make a small offering go as far as a large one, blessing gifts in keeping with the self-denial and sacrifice shown, and blessing redounds to those who manifest this liberal spirit. Offerings are to bear the spirit of benevolence shown by the churches of Macedonia, who in affliction and deep poverty first gave themselves to the Lord and then gave willingly to and beyond their power. Giving follows the grace of Christ, who though rich became poor so that through His poverty others might be rich, and even one pound given in deep poverty is liberal and blessed when giving to power and beyond power willingly is the measure.
The apostolic plan was for the church's burdens to be shared equally in proportion to each person's ability, so that the burden was not left to a few. The dividing principle means those who have more share what they can, so the work does not fall on only one group, and where brethren elsewhere have not shared the load those present must carry it themselves. Selfish motives must not lead believers to withhold needed funds when the field is ready for advance, but to emulate the liberal spirit of the Macedonians who were willing to give beyond their power to the cause calling for their assistance.
Principles for Giving
The verse belongs to the outline of giving in 2 Corinthians 8 and 9 that shows how to gain God's blessing. When God by His Spirit stirs hearts to see the necessities of the work, there will be denying of self and eager desire to give. Believers will pray for the privilege of laying their offerings at the apostles' feet, so that gifts flow into the treasury for the proclamation of the message for this time. In this way self-denial supplies means so the truth can be proclaimed.
The chapter gives God's directions on giving that His people are to follow. They are to devote their means to God as well as give themselves to His service. They are to take the word as counsellor and act on Bible principles, so that God is glorified in them and the glory of the Lord is their rereward. This applies even to newly believing working people with large families dependent on daily labor who help erect a humble church for worship, where even one pound given in deep poverty is liberal and blessed and giving to power and beyond power willingly of themselves is the measure.
Paul laid no command about giving for the needy church at Jerusalem but urged willing liberality. He set the need before the Corinthians and pointed to the giving of others who had fewer advantages and less ability, to move them to give. Appreciation of the rich endowment of God's gifts leads to great benevolence. Character cannot be complete unless benevolence is expressed in returning to God His due by sustaining every good work, revealing the power of truth in counterworking selfishness and self-indulgence and showing fruit-bearing by making returns of fruit from His vineyard, with liberality in lines that advance His kingdom as the very best evidence of sincerity of faith, love expressed in deeds, something tangible.
Those with more than enough for immediate needs are to share freely with poorer believers and fellow workers. They are to bind about their own supposed wants to meet others' necessities. They are to give from abundance to support poorer fellow workers and advance the work of proclaiming the truth, so that relieving others does not leave the givers unfairly burdened while others are eased. Each must do his part as prospered with greater willingness, cutting loose from the world and sacrificing for God. God will have a freewill offering, and those who give must esteem it a privilege to do so.
At present the houses His people need to live in are not called for, but if those who have abundance do not hear His voice He will pass them by and call those willing to do anything, even to sell their homes. The poor who have least see the wants of the cause and divide and divide to meet them, while the able and wealthy hold one dollar more tightly than the day laborer holds ten, and the more the possessor has the less he sees the need and the harder it is to hear the call for means because of the deceitfulness of riches. Every able person must work steadily and industriously, economize time and strength and means, accept moderate wages when the highest cannot be had, and lay by a sum every day so as to amply sustain himself and keep a surplus over expenses against sickness and misfortune. That surplus is required to do good to others, bless the needy, and advance the cause, and failure risks the charge of robbery toward God. To neglect this and fall as a helpless burden on the church, when good business, commanding strength, and freedom from family support make a surplus possible, is wrong, close, and selfish, and helping those in need is not an excuse for able people to live at others' expense.
All who share an interest in the cause are to take part in its responsibilities and labor, united in purpose. The work should not be carried by some while others are left free of their share, easing some by burdening others. Shunning burdens and leaving them for others to carry is condemned, and each is to bear a fair share by careful use of time to please God. Those who have health and strength are accountable to God for using their time and abilities in His service, including helping support the cause, as well as their property to help advance the work, for all have a part to act according to what they have.
Equality in Practice
Giving must produce equality rather than ease for some and burden for others, with present abundance supplying present want so that want may in turn be supplied when need reverses. Institutions established in poverty must not absorb all profits to enlarge and enrich themselves where there is no real need, but as stewards without partiality and without hypocrisy must curtail large plans, reserve part of their means, and in a limited degree share abundant advantages with destitute fields. Those prospered are to help brethren, churches and institutions struggling under poverty and debt in proportion to their prosperity, providing meeting places and facilities, aiding the struggling to gain standing room, to carry out plans to increase their facilities, and to establish schools and health institutions in other places where the people will be most benefited. True self-denial and love for souls after Christ's example, bearing much fruit to God's glory and experimenting in right doing, brings blessing on those handling means, while selfishly grasping much is robbery bringing want to other fields. Workers in difficult fields must receive enough support while workers in well-funded institutions should not claim high wages at their expense, nor in jealousy push other workers out of existence and exalt themselves in conscious superiority, but with hearts of flesh full of charity toward those more needy than themselves.
The difficulty of the Southern field is no excuse for doing scarcely anything for it, and those blessed with light and truth should not neglect their duty to help supply the hard, destitute field. The entire profits of the books designated for that field should have been used there, and appropriating them to fields that have had much better advantages in every way is deception, neglect, and wrong treatment that displeases the Lord. More is called for than beginning where work should have begun years ago, including restitution of diverted means, under warning of meeting this neglect in the judgment, because the design for the work originated with God and the facilities were His from His treasury, and He will reward according to neglect of His purposes and specified methods.
Believers should give liberally from entrusted means to supply foreign missions and unworked fields when the field is ready for advance, and selfish motives must not lead them to withhold needed funds. Read in the churches, the call catches the inspiration of liberality and helps see giving in a correct light, meeting the pressing emergencies that arise in aggressive warfare by giving liberally for other parts of the field while still sustaining the work at home willingly without complaint. As givers impart they receive, for God gives to them that they may give to others, after the liberal spirit of the Macedonians who were willing to give beyond their power to the cause calling for their assistance.
Asking brethren scattered abroad for means to erect a substantial, economical sanitarium building for uplifting people to an elevated plane of action is not meant to burden givers while easing others, but to open the privilege of giving to all, so that being poor does not shut anyone out from helping. The dividing principle means those who have more share what they can, so the work does not fall on only one group, and because brethren elsewhere had not shared the load for the sanitarium, those present would have to carry it themselves. In the appeal to assist the institutions in Scandinavia, sharing the responsibility means each person's contribution need not be felt as a hardship. Raising money to care for the sick must work by the same liberal plan of equality through sacrifice as other branches, with small and large donations coming in as needed and spent judiciously, charges for patients kept as reasonable as possible, and donations helping pay the expenses of the suffering worthy poor. Physicians, managers, helpers, patients, and friends far and near are all to be ruled by benevolence, charity, humanity, and sacrifice for others' good, and by the love of Christ, love for souls, and sympathy for suffering humanity, instead of seeking wages, good investment, a paying thing, and stock that will pay.
The call applies to devoting means to God as well as giving self to His service in erecting a humble church and a house for the Lord for decent and orderly worship, including by newly believing working people with large families dependent on daily labor. Even one pound given in deep poverty is liberal and blessed, and giving to power and beyond power willing of themselves is the measure set before them. A gift is accepted when given from a willing mind according to what a person has, not according to what he does not have, with those whose abundance meets another's present want giving in answer to earnest prayer, moved by the Holy Spirit, trusting their own future want will likewise be supplied, that there may be equality. Children are to be taught to give offerings for God's work with generosity practiced with fairness and self-denial, not in a way that leaves the giver unfairly burdened.
Giving is not meant to ease some by laying an unfair burden on others, but to bring about equality and fairness. That equality means present abundance supplies present want, so that when circumstances reverse abundance on the other side supplies want in turn. It is illustrated by the gathering of the manna, where he that gathered much had nothing over and he that gathered little had no lack when measured with an omer. A gift is accepted when there is first a willing mind, according to what a person has and not according to what he does not have, and the pattern is the churches of Macedonia who in deep poverty gave willingly to and beyond their power, and Christ who though rich became poor so that through His poverty others might be rich. The plan is for the burdens of the church to be shared equally in proportion to each one's ability, with those who have more than enough binding about their own wants to help the needy, and with institutions and workers curtailing large plans to share advantages with destitute fields rather than enriching themselves.
Meaning of Equality
Paul does not intend relief for some believers to come by laying an unfair weight on others, for Christian giving is meant to produce equality and fairness rather than easing one group while burdening another. In the setting of 2 Corinthians 8 and 9 this calls for willing self-denial and shared sacrifice, so that God's people are blessed without shifting hardship onto others. Equality means present abundance supplies present want, with the expectation that abundance on each side will in turn supply the other's want when circumstances reverse and mutual help becomes possible. Those whose abundance meets another's present want give in answer to earnest prayer, moved by the Holy Spirit, trusting their own future want will likewise be supplied.
This equality is explained and illustrated by the gathering of the manna, where some gathered more and some less than the stipulated amount, yet when measured with an omer he that gathered much had nothing over and he that gathered little had no lack. A gift is accepted when there is first a willing mind, according to what a person has and not according to what he does not have. God can make a small offering go as far as a large one, blessing gifts in keeping with the self-denial and sacrifice shown, and blessing redounds to those who manifest this liberal spirit. Offerings are to bear the spirit of benevolence shown by the churches of Macedonia, who in affliction and deep poverty first gave themselves to the Lord and then gave willingly to and beyond their power. Giving follows the grace of Christ, who though rich became poor so that through His poverty others might be rich, and even one pound given in deep poverty is liberal and blessed when giving to power and beyond power willingly is the measure.
The apostolic plan was for the church's burdens to be shared equally in proportion to each person's ability, so that the burden was not left to a few. The dividing principle means those who have more share what they can, so the work does not fall on only one group, and where brethren elsewhere have not shared the load those present must carry it themselves. Selfish motives must not lead believers to withhold needed funds when the field is ready for advance, but to emulate the liberal spirit of the Macedonians who were willing to give beyond their power to the cause calling for their assistance.
Principles for Giving
The verse belongs to the outline of giving in 2 Corinthians 8 and 9 that shows how to gain God's blessing. When God by His Spirit stirs hearts to see the necessities of the work, there will be denying of self and eager desire to give. Believers will pray for the privilege of laying their offerings at the apostles' feet, so that gifts flow into the treasury for the proclamation of the message for this time. In this way self-denial supplies means so the truth can be proclaimed.
The chapter gives God's directions on giving that His people are to follow. They are to devote their means to God as well as give themselves to His service. They are to take the word as counsellor and act on Bible principles, so that God is glorified in them and the glory of the Lord is their rereward. This applies even to newly believing working people with large families dependent on daily labor who help erect a humble church for worship, where even one pound given in deep poverty is liberal and blessed and giving to power and beyond power willingly of themselves is the measure.
Paul laid no command about giving for the needy church at Jerusalem but urged willing liberality. He set the need before the Corinthians and pointed to the giving of others who had fewer advantages and less ability, to move them to give. Appreciation of the rich endowment of God's gifts leads to great benevolence. Character cannot be complete unless benevolence is expressed in returning to God His due by sustaining every good work, revealing the power of truth in counterworking selfishness and self-indulgence and showing fruit-bearing by making returns of fruit from His vineyard, with liberality in lines that advance His kingdom as the very best evidence of sincerity of faith, love expressed in deeds, something tangible.
Those with more than enough for immediate needs are to share freely with poorer believers and fellow workers. They are to bind about their own supposed wants to meet others' necessities. They are to give from abundance to support poorer fellow workers and advance the work of proclaiming the truth, so that relieving others does not leave the givers unfairly burdened while others are eased. Each must do his part as prospered with greater willingness, cutting loose from the world and sacrificing for God. God will have a freewill offering, and those who give must esteem it a privilege to do so.
At present the houses His people need to live in are not called for, but if those who have abundance do not hear His voice He will pass them by and call those willing to do anything, even to sell their homes. The poor who have least see the wants of the cause and divide and divide to meet them, while the able and wealthy hold one dollar more tightly than the day laborer holds ten, and the more the possessor has the less he sees the need and the harder it is to hear the call for means because of the deceitfulness of riches. Every able person must work steadily and industriously, economize time and strength and means, accept moderate wages when the highest cannot be had, and lay by a sum every day so as to amply sustain himself and keep a surplus over expenses against sickness and misfortune. That surplus is required to do good to others, bless the needy, and advance the cause, and failure risks the charge of robbery toward God. To neglect this and fall as a helpless burden on the church, when good business, commanding strength, and freedom from family support make a surplus possible, is wrong, close, and selfish, and helping those in need is not an excuse for able people to live at others' expense.
All who share an interest in the cause are to take part in its responsibilities and labor, united in purpose. The work should not be carried by some while others are left free of their share, easing some by burdening others. Shunning burdens and leaving them for others to carry is condemned, and each is to bear a fair share by careful use of time to please God. Those who have health and strength are accountable to God for using their time and abilities in His service, including helping support the cause, as well as their property to help advance the work, for all have a part to act according to what they have.
Equality in Practice
Giving must produce equality rather than ease for some and burden for others, with present abundance supplying present want so that want may in turn be supplied when need reverses. Institutions established in poverty must not absorb all profits to enlarge and enrich themselves where there is no real need, but as stewards without partiality and without hypocrisy must curtail large plans, reserve part of their means, and in a limited degree share abundant advantages with destitute fields. Those prospered are to help brethren, churches and institutions struggling under poverty and debt in proportion to their prosperity, providing meeting places and facilities, aiding the struggling to gain standing room, to carry out plans to increase their facilities, and to establish schools and health institutions in other places where the people will be most benefited. True self-denial and love for souls after Christ's example, bearing much fruit to God's glory and experimenting in right doing, brings blessing on those handling means, while selfishly grasping much is robbery bringing want to other fields. Workers in difficult fields must receive enough support while workers in well-funded institutions should not claim high wages at their expense, nor in jealousy push other workers out of existence and exalt themselves in conscious superiority, but with hearts of flesh full of charity toward those more needy than themselves.
The difficulty of the Southern field is no excuse for doing scarcely anything for it, and those blessed with light and truth should not neglect their duty to help supply the hard, destitute field. The entire profits of the books designated for that field should have been used there, and appropriating them to fields that have had much better advantages in every way is deception, neglect, and wrong treatment that displeases the Lord. More is called for than beginning where work should have begun years ago, including restitution of diverted means, under warning of meeting this neglect in the judgment, because the design for the work originated with God and the facilities were His from His treasury, and He will reward according to neglect of His purposes and specified methods.
Believers should give liberally from entrusted means to supply foreign missions and unworked fields when the field is ready for advance, and selfish motives must not lead them to withhold needed funds. Read in the churches, the call catches the inspiration of liberality and helps see giving in a correct light, meeting the pressing emergencies that arise in aggressive warfare by giving liberally for other parts of the field while still sustaining the work at home willingly without complaint. As givers impart they receive, for God gives to them that they may give to others, after the liberal spirit of the Macedonians who were willing to give beyond their power to the cause calling for their assistance.
Asking brethren scattered abroad for means to erect a substantial, economical sanitarium building for uplifting people to an elevated plane of action is not meant to burden givers while easing others, but to open the privilege of giving to all, so that being poor does not shut anyone out from helping. The dividing principle means those who have more share what they can, so the work does not fall on only one group, and because brethren elsewhere had not shared the load for the sanitarium, those present would have to carry it themselves. In the appeal to assist the institutions in Scandinavia, sharing the responsibility means each person's contribution need not be felt as a hardship. Raising money to care for the sick must work by the same liberal plan of equality through sacrifice as other branches, with small and large donations coming in as needed and spent judiciously, charges for patients kept as reasonable as possible, and donations helping pay the expenses of the suffering worthy poor. Physicians, managers, helpers, patients, and friends far and near are all to be ruled by benevolence, charity, humanity, and sacrifice for others' good, and by the love of Christ, love for souls, and sympathy for suffering humanity, instead of seeking wages, good investment, a paying thing, and stock that will pay.
The call applies to devoting means to God as well as giving self to His service in erecting a humble church and a house for the Lord for decent and orderly worship, including by newly believing working people with large families dependent on daily labor. Even one pound given in deep poverty is liberal and blessed, and giving to power and beyond power willing of themselves is the measure set before them. A gift is accepted when given from a willing mind according to what a person has, not according to what he does not have, with those whose abundance meets another's present want giving in answer to earnest prayer, moved by the Holy Spirit, trusting their own future want will likewise be supplied, that there may be equality. Children are to be taught to give offerings for God's work with generosity practiced with fairness and self-denial, not in a way that leaves the giver unfairly burdened.