1 Now it is superfluous for me to write to you about the offering for the saints, 2 for I know your readiness, of which I boast about you to the people of Macedonia, saying that Achaia has been ready since last year; and your zeal has stirred up most of them. 3 But I am sending the brethren so that our boasting about you may not prove vain in this case, so that you may be ready, as I said you would be; 4 lest if some Macedonians come with me and find that you are not ready, we be humiliated—to say nothing of you—for being so confident. 5 So I thought it necessary to urge the brethren to go on to you before me, and arrange in advance for this gift you have promised, so that it may be ready not as an exaction but as a willing gift. 6 The point is this: he who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. 7 Each one must do as he has made up his mind, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.

320. – Having exhorted the Corinthians to give alms to the saints in Jerusalem, the Apostle now admonishes them how to give, namely, cheerfully and abundantly. Hence, in order that they might give properly, he has sent them important messengers. In regard to this he does two things. First, he excludes the supposed cause for sending the messengers; secondly, he gives the true one (v. 3). In regard to the first he does three things. First, he excludes a suspicion; secondly, he assigns the cause for this (v. 2); thirdly, he proves the cause (v. 2b).

321. – As to the first, because someone could say to the Apostle: you urge us to receive your messengers cordially, but why do you not rather urge us to give alms properly. Therefore, rejecting this, he says: it is not necessary for me to urge this now, i.e., because, it is superfluous for me to write to you about the offering for the saints.

322. – And the reason for this is because I know your readiness to help them: “My heart is steadfast, O God”(Ps. 108:1). That your mind is ready I prove by two things. First, from our boasting of you, for unless I knew that you were ready for this, I would not have boasted to them about you. Therefore he says, of which, namely, the promptitude of your mind: “For our boast is this, the testimony of our conscience” (2 Cor. 1:12); “I have great confidence in you” (2 Cor. 7:4). I boast about you to the people of Macedonia, saying that Achaia, in which Corinth is the metropolis, has been ready since last year to give. Secondly, from the effect, because you have provoked many to do this by your example. Hence he says, and your zeal, i.e., the desire to imitate you, has stirred up most of them, for since they heard of your progress after your amendment, many were provoked to make progress: “Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another” (Prov. 27:17); “For a good purpose it is always good to be made much of” (Gal. 4:18); “But earnestly desire the higher gifts” (1 Cor. 12:31).

323. – Then when he says, But I am sending the brethren, he establishes the true cause for why he was sending such solemn messengers. First, he lays down the general reason; secondly, the special reason (v. 3b).

324. – Concerning the first he does two things. First, he assigns the true cause, saying: the reason why I have sent them is not that I believe you are not willing to help the poor, but that our boasting about you may not prove vain, if you should fail: “For I would rather die than have any one deprive me of my ground for boasting” (1 Cor. 9:15). That it not be made void, I say, in this case, because it is evident to me that in the other virtues and good deeds you will not void by glory.

325. – Secondly, when he says, so that you may be ready, as I said you would be, he urges them to give in the proper way. First, he urges them to give readily; secondly, that they may give abundantly (v. 5); thirdly, that they may give cheerfully (v. 7).

326. – In regard to the first he does two things. First, he mentions how to give; secondly, he assigns the reason (v. 4). The way to give is promptly; hence he says, I sent the ministers so that you may be ready, as I said you would be, namely, after the example of the Macedonians: “And those who were ready went in with him to the marriage feast” (Matt. 25:10); “Do not say to your neighbor, ‘Go, and come again, tomorrow I will give

it’ – when you have it with you” (Prov. 3:28). The reason for this is lest if some Macedonians come with me and find that you are not ready, we be humiliated. As if to say: it will be to your shame if you have promised and not paid. But even if you can stand it and you do not care about your shame, at least think of our embarrassment, who say that you are prepared.

327. – Then when he says, So I thought it necessary, he urges them to give abundantly. In regard to this he does two things. First, he gives the admonition; secondly, he gives the reason for it (v. 6)

328. – He says therefore: lest our boasting be voided and you be put to shame, I thought it necessary to urge the brethren, namely, Titus and Apollos, to go on to you before me, and arrange in advance for this gift [blessing] you have promised, namely, the alms, which is called a blessing because it is a cause of eternal blessedness. For by the act of giving a man is blessed by the Lord: “He will receive blessing from the Lord” (Ps. 24:4); and by men: “The lips of many shall bless him that is liberal of his bread” (Sir. 31:28, Vulgate); “He who has a bountiful eye will be blessed” (Prov. 22:9). And he calls this a blessing to be prepared, as a willing gift, i.e., abundantly, not as an exaction, i.e., not sparingly.

329. – The reason why they should give abundantly is because, I say, he who sows sparingly, i.e., who gives little in this world, will also reap sparingly, i.e., will receive little in the other world. And he says, sows, because our seeds are whatever good we do; and again, if little is sown, not much is gathered: “For he who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption” (Gal. 6:8); but multiplied: And he who sows bountifully, i.e., abundantly, will also reap bountifully, i.e., the generous reward of God. But will not all reap abundantly? Yes, as to the quantity of the reward, because all will abound and no one will reap sparingly. But he says, bountifully, in proportion to those sowing well: “Star differs from star in glory” (1 Cor. 15:41). All will reap abundantly as to the substantial reward, but sparingly as to the accidental reward, in which the saints will differ: “As it is written, ‘He who gathered much had nothing over, and he who gathered little had no lack’” (2 Cor. 8:15), because sometimes a person gives sparingly and with great charity, and reaps abundantly.

330. – Then when he says, each one must do, he exhorts them to give cheerfully and joyfully. In regard to this he does two things. First, he urges them to give joyfully; secondly, he gives the reason (v. 7b).

331. – He says therefore: I say that you should prepare what you intend to give as a gift, i.e., abundantly, and as worthy of a blessing, and not as an exaction, i.e., not sparingly. He says this, because what is done spontaneously cannot be done with covetousness. Therefore he adds, Each one must do as he has made up his mind, as though without covetousness, because each one of you should give his alms as he has made up, i.e., decided beforehand, in his mind [heart], namely, conferring with himself. Not reluctantly or under compulsion: as if to say: let each one give willingly, not as being forced. Here he mentions the two things opposed to a voluntary action, namely, sadness and necessity. For a voluntary action is destroyed by violence, which is of two kinds, namely, simple and mixed. It is simple, when someone is absolutely compelled to do something against his will. To remove that violence he says, not reluctantly, which would be present if they gave as though compelled by the command of the Apostle. As if to say: do not permit my command to compel you to give, but let your ready will move you to do this: “Whoever is of a generous heart, let him bring the Lord’s offering” (Ex. 35:5). But a mixed violent action happens when one is not absolutely forced to do something against his will, but in a qualified sense, namely, that he would incur great harm, unless he did it; for example, if a ship would sink, unless the cargo were thrown overboard. Therefore in one sense it is done willingly, and in another sense by force, inasmuch as he is compelled by fear of a greater loss. Therefore, to remove this he says, not under compulsion, i.e., not making it a mixed violent action. As if to say: not from fear of shame, but from the joy you have conceived because of the love you have towards the saints: “With a freewill offering I will sacrifice to thee” (Ps. 54:6).

332. – Then when he says, For God loves a cheerful giver, he gives the reason, which is this: everyone who rewards gives a reward for things worthy of a reward; but only acts of the virtues are such. But in the acts of the virtues there are two elements, namely, the species of the act and the manner of acting, which is taken on the side of the one acting. Hence, unless both are found in an act of virtue, that act is not said to be absolutely virtuous, just as a person is not said to be perfectly just according to the virtue, when he does works of justice, unless he acts with delight and with joy. And although with men, who see only what is obvious, it is enough that one perform an act of justice according to the very species of the act, say an act of justice; nevertheless, with God, who sees the heart, it is not enough merely to perform the act of a virtue according to the species, but he must also act according to the proper manner, namely, with delight and joy. Therefore, it is not the giver, but the cheerful giver that God loves, i.e., approves and rewards, and not the sad and grumbling one: “Serve the Lord with gladness” (Ps. 100:2); “For the Lord is the one who repays” (Sir. 35:11); “He who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness” (Rom. 12:8).