rsv 2Corinthians:8:1-15 SEEK
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We want you to know ,
brethren ,
about the grace of God which has been shown in the churches of Macedo '
nia ,
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for in a severe test of affliction ,
their abundance of joy and their extreme poverty have overflowed in a wealth of liberality on their part .
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For they gave according to their means ,
as I can testify ,
and beyond their means ,
of their own free will ,
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begging us earnestly for the favor of taking part in the relief of the saints --
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and this ,
not as we expected ,
but first they gave themselves to the Lord and to us by the will of God .
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Accordingly we have urged Titus that as he had already made a beginning ,
he should also complete among you this gracious work .
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Now as you excel in everything--in faith ,
in utterance ,
in knowledge ,
in all earnestness ,
and in your love for us--see that you excel in this gracious work also .
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I say this not as a command ,
but to prove by the earnestness of others that your love also is genuine .
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For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ ,
that though he was rich ,
yet for your sake he became poor ,
so that by his poverty you might become rich .
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And in this matter I give my advice :
it is best for you now to complete what a year ago you began not only to do but to desire ,
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so that your readiness in desiring it may be matched by your completing it out of what you have .
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For if the readiness is there ,
it is acceptable according to what a man has ,
not according to what he has not .
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I do not mean that others should be eased and you burdened ,
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but that as a matter of equality your abundance at the present time should supply their want ,
so that their abundance may supply your want ,
that there may be equality .
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As it is written , "
He who gathered much had nothing over ,
and he who gathered little had no lack ."