Read the New Testament in 24 Weeks

7 Dear friends, we have these promises from God. So we should make ourselves pure—free from anything that makes body or soul unclean. We should try to become perfect in the way we live, because we respect God.

Paul’s Joy

² Open your hearts to us. We have not done wrong to anyone. We have not ruined the faith of any person, and we have cheated no one. ³ I do not say this to blame you. I told you before that we love you so much that we would live or die with you. ⁴ I feel very sure of you. I am very proud of you. You give me much comfort. And in all of our troubles I have great joy.

⁵ When we came into Macedonia, we had no rest. We found trouble all around us. We had fighting on the outside and fear on the inside. ⁶ But God comforts those who are troubled. And God comforted us when Titus came. ⁷ We were comforted by his coming and also by the comfort that you gave him. Titus told us about your wish to see me. He told us that you are very sorry for what you did. And he told me about your great care for me. When I heard this, I was much happier.

⁸ Even if the letter I wrote you made you sad, I am not sorry I wrote it. I know it made you sad, and I was sorry for that. But it made you sad only for a short time. ⁹ Now I am happy, but not because you were made sad. I am happy because your sorrow made you change your hearts. You became sad in the way God wanted you to. So you were not hurt by us in any way. ¹⁰ Being sorry in the way God wants makes a person change his heart and life. This leads to salvation, and we cannot be sorry for that. But the kind of sorrow the world has will bring death. ¹¹ You had the kind of sorrow God wanted you to have. Now see what this sorrow has brought you: It has made you very serious. It made you want to prove that you were not wrong. It made you angry and afraid. It made you want to see me. It made you care. It made you want the right thing to be done. You proved that you were not guilty in any part of the problem. ¹² I wrote that letter, but not because of the one who did the wrong. And it was not written because of the person who was hurt. But I wrote the letter so that you could see, before God, the great care that you have for us. ¹³ That is why we were comforted.

We were very comforted. And we were even happier to see that Titus was so happy. All of you made him feel much better. ¹⁴ I bragged to Titus about you. And you showed that I was right. Everything that we said to you was true. And you have proved that what we bragged about to Titus is true. ¹⁵ And his love for you is stronger when he remembers that you were all ready to obey. You welcomed him with respect and fear. ¹⁶ I am very happy that I can trust you fully.

Christian Giving

8 And now, brothers, we want you to know about the grace that God gave the churches in Macedonia. ² They have been tested by great troubles. And they are very poor. But they gave much because of their great joy. ³ I can tell you that they gave as much as they were able. They gave even more than they could afford. No one told them to do it. ⁴ But they asked us again and again—they begged us to let them share in this service for God’s people. ⁵ And they gave in a way that we did not expect: They first gave themselves to the Lord and to us. This is what God wants. ⁶ So we asked Titus to help you finish this special work of grace. He is the one who started this work. ⁷ You are rich in everything—in faith, in speaking, in knowledge, in truly wanting to help, and in the love you learned from us.^[a] And so we want you to be rich also in this gift of giving.

⁸ I am not commanding you to give. But I want to see if your love is true love. I do this by showing you that others really want to help. ⁹ You know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. You know that Christ was rich, but for you he became poor. Christ did this so that by his being poor you might become rich.

¹⁰ This is what I think you should do: Last year you were the first to want to give. And you were the first who gave. ¹¹ So now finish the work that you started. Then your “doing” will be equal to your “wanting to do.” Give from what you have. ¹² If you want to give, your gift will be accepted. Your gift will be judged by what you have, not by what you do not have. ¹³ We do not want you to have troubles while other people are at ease. We want everything to be equal. ¹⁴ At this time you have plenty. What you have can help others who are in need. Then later, when they have plenty, they can help you when you are in need. Then all will be equal. ¹⁵ As it is written in the Scriptures, “The person who gathered more did not have too much. The person who gathered less did not have too little.”^[b]

Titus and His Companions

¹⁶ I thank God because he gave Titus the same love for you that I have. ¹⁷ Titus accepted what we asked him to do. He wanted very much to go to you. This was his own idea. ¹⁸ We are sending with him the brother who is praised by all the churches. This brother is praised because of his service in preaching the Good News. ¹⁹ Also, this brother was chosen by the churches to go with us when we deliver this gift of money. We are doing this service to bring glory to the Lord and to show that we really want to help.

²⁰ We are being careful so that no one will criticize us about the way we are handling this large gift. ²¹ We are trying to do what is right. We want to do what the Lord accepts as right and also what people think is right.

²² Also, we are sending with them our brother who is always ready to help. He has proved this to us in many ways. And he wants to help even more now because he has much faith in you.

²³ Now about Titus—he is my partner who is working with me to help you. And about the other brothers—they are sent from the churches, and they bring glory to Christ. ²⁴ So show these men that you really have love. Show them why we are proud of you. Then all the churches can see it.

Help for Fellow Christians

9 I really do not need to write to you about this help for God’s people. ² I know that you want to help. I have been bragging about this to the people in Macedonia. I have told them that you in Southern Greece have been ready to give since last year. And your wanting to give has made most of them here ready to give also. ³ But I am sending the brothers to you. I do not want our bragging about you in this to be for nothing. I want you to be ready, as I said you would be. ⁴ If any of the people from Macedonia come with me and find that you are not ready, we will be ashamed. We will be ashamed that we were so sure of you. (And you will be ashamed, too!) ⁵ So I thought that I should ask these brothers to go to you before we come. They will finish getting in order the gift you promised. Then the gift will be ready when we come, and it will be a gift you wanted to give—not a gift that you hated to give.

⁶ Remember this: The person who plants a little will have a small harvest. But the person who plants a lot will have a big harvest. ⁷ Each one should give, then, what he has decided in his heart to give. He should not give if it makes him sad. And he should not give if he thinks he is forced to give. God loves the person who gives happily. ⁸ And God can give you more blessings than you need. Then you will always have plenty of everything. You will have enough to give to every good work. ⁹ It is written in the Scriptures:

¹⁰ God is the One who gives seed to the farmer. And he gives bread for food. And God will give you all the seed you need and make it grow. He will make a great harvest from your goodness. ¹¹ God will make you rich in every way so that you can always give freely. And your giving through us will cause many to give thanks to God. ¹² This service that you do helps the needs of God’s people. It is also bringing more and more thanks to God. ¹³ This service you do is a proof of your faith. Many people will praise God because of it. They will praise God because you follow the Good News of Christ—the gospel you say you believe. They will praise God because you freely share with them and with all others. ¹⁴ And when they pray, they will wish they could be with you. They will feel this because of the great grace that God has given you. ¹⁵ Thanks be to God for his gift that is too wonderful to explain.