2Corinthians:8

---

Seeker Overlay ON

* My brothers , let me tell you how God has blessed the churches in Macedonia . * They are being tested by much trouble . But they are always very happy . And they are very poor . Because of these two things , they give to others as if they were rich . * I can tell you because I saw it myself . They gave as much as they could and even more than that . They did it all because they wanted to . * They begged us to let them give something to help Gods people . * And they did more than we thought they would do . First , they gave themselves to the Lord and to us , because we were doing Gods work . * That is why we asked Titus to see about your gift . He started you off in your giving . And so he is the one to see that you finish it . * We remember how well you do in everything . You do well in believing , in talking , in knowing things , in trying your best , and in the way you love us . So now , do well in giving this gift . * I am not saying that you must do it . But I want to prove how strong your love is . That is why I have told you how other people show their love . * You know how much love our Lord Jesus Christ had . He was rich , but he became poor for your sakes . Because he became poor , you can become rich . * I tell you what I think . It is best for you to finish what you started a year ago . You were the first to think of helping , and you started to give money . * So now , finish doing it . You wanted to do it , so now finish it . Give as much as you can . * If a man wants to give , he is judged by what he has to give . He is not judged by what he cannot give . * I do not want it to be easy for others and hard for you . * I want it to be equal for everyone . Right now , you have plenty and are able to help them . Another time , when they have plenty , they will help you when you need it . In that way things will be equal . * The holy writings say , The person who had plenty did not have too much . And the person who did not have much , had enough . care for you into the heart of Titus that I have . * He was glad to go when I asked him , but he is also coming to you because he himself wants to come . * We are sending another brother with him . This brother has a good name in all the churches because he tells the good news . * Not only that , but the churches have chosen him to travel with us as we take care of this gift . We are doing this so that the Lord will be praised . We want to help others . * We do not want anyone to say that we have not done the right thing . So we are taking care of this big gift in the right way . 21We want to do what the Lord says is right , but also what people say is right . * And we are also sending another brother with them . We have found him to be glad to help us in many matters , many times . And now he is much more glad to help because he trusts you very much . * I want to say this . Titus is my close friend and he works with me . And about our other brothers , they have been sent by the churches . They bring praise to Christ . * Now then , prove that you love them . Prove that what we have said about you is true . Then the churches will know it . * missing fehlt /missing

---