2 Corinthians 8:16-24 Click here for Bible Verses
Hi GAMErs,
Today’s passage is 2 Corinthians 8:16-24. Let’s go!
2 Corinthians 8:16-24 (NIV)
16 I thank God, who put into the heart of Titus the same concern I have for you.
17 For Titus not only welcomed our appeal, but he is coming to you with much enthusiasm and on his own initiative.
18 And we are sending along with him the brother who is praised by all the churches for his service to the gospel.
19 What is more, he was chosen by the churches to accompany us as we carry the offering, which we administer in order to honor the Lord himself and to show our eagerness to help.
20 We want to avoid any criticism of the way we administer this liberal gift.
21 For we are taking pains to do what is right, not only in the eyes of the Lord but also in the eyes of men.
22 In addition, we are sending with them our brother who has often proved to us in many ways that he is zealous, and now even more so because of his great confidence in you.
23 As for Titus, he is my partner and fellow worker among you; as for our brothers, they are representatives of the churches and an honor to Christ.
24 Therefore show these men the proof of your love and the reason for our pride in you, so that the churches can see it.
On verses 16-24: In making preparations to collect the offering from his church in Corinth, Paul goes out of his way to tell his church in Corinth that he and his team are taking great pains to make sure that the funds given by his church are being handled carefully and without any hint of mismanagement. In particular Paul focuses on the trustworthiness of the individuals who have been appointed to go to the church in Corinth to receive their offering and from there to deliver the offering to its intended destination. Those individuals include Titus, whom Paul praises at length (v16-17) as well as two other individuals whose names are not stated but who are apparently highly reputable church representatives (v18-19a and v23). Why is Paul talking so much about the trustworthiness of the individuals who have been sent to receive and deliver the offering? It’s so that the church in Corinth could have full confidence about how the money would be handled. As Paul writes in verses 20-21, “We want to avoid any criticism of the way we administer this liberal gift. For we are taking pains to do what is right, not only in the eyes of the Lord but also in the eyes of men.” Paul understood that your reputation depends on how you handle other people’s money.
What can we learn from this? Be careful in how you handle other people’s money. How you handle other people’s money says a lot about your character. So do your absolute best to be efficient, responsible, clear and careful in how you handle other people’s money.
Practically speaking, what does that mean? Here are some examples:
– If you owe money to someone, pay it back as quickly as you possibly can and no later than when you originally said you would. Do not leave any debt outstanding and don’t leave that person who is waiting for payment hanging.
– If like Paul you are delivering funds on someone’s behalf, deliver those funds on time and ask the person you’re giving the funds to to sign a receipt to confirm they received it.
– If you are counting money that has been collected for the church or some other organization, especially if it is in cash, have a witness – a second pair of eyes – to help you count and record the amount that you counted.
– Whenever you need someone to help with counting or delivering funds, ask someone whom you know to be highly responsible, careful, and detail-oriented.
– Whenever you ask for a reimbursement, always attach a clear receipt and don’t wait too long before submitting the reimbursement request.
– If you handle money for others, keep good records of how that money was used and keep it separate from your own funds so that they don’t get mixed together.
These are just some of many examples of ways we want to be careful in handling other people’s money.
The fact is: Your reputation depends on how you handle other people’s money. Like Paul, do everything you can to avoid being seen as mismanaging money or being greedy or irresponsible with money. As Jesus says, “if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches?” (Luke 16:11) Ultimately, we want to see the way we handle other people’s money as a way that we “honor the Lord himself” (v19), as another important way that we worship God.
Heavenly Father, I pray that whenever I am entrusted with other people’s money, I would be a faithful steward of it, doing what is right in Your eyes and in the eyes of others. In Jesus’ name, AMEN!
