I am only making suggestions on this matter; for this is the best course for you, since you were a year before others, not only in taking action, but also in showing your readiness to do so.

Let every one give as he has determined before hand, not grudgingly or under compulsion; for God loves 'a cheerful giver.'

I say this, however, as a concession, not as a command.

By occasion

We would remind you, Brothers, of the love that God has shown to the Churches in Macedonia--

I know, of course, your willingness to help, and I am always boasting of it to the Macedonians. I tell them that you in Greece have been ready for a year past; and it was really your zeal that stimulated most of them.

And, if their falling away has enriched the world, and their failure has enriched the Gentiles, how much more will result from their full restoration!

Let us vie with one another in a rivalry of love and noble actions.

Prove

Show them, therefore--so that the Churches may see it-- the proof of your affection, and the ground for our boasting to them about you.

By purity, by knowledge, by patience, by kindliness, by holiness of spirit, by unfeigned love;

Let your love be sincere. Hate the wrong; cling to the right.

But holding the truth in a spirit of love, we shall grow into complete union with him who is our Head--Christ himself.

My Brothers, what is the good of a man's saying that he has faith, if he does not prove it by actions? Can such faith save him?

Now that, by your obedience to the Truth, you have purified your lives, so that there is growing up among you a genuine brotherly affection, love one another earnestly with all your hearts;

But, if any one has worldly possessions, and yet looks on while his Brother is in want, and steels his heart against him, how can it be said that the love of God is within him?

General references

If you love me, you will lay my commands to heart,

Show them, therefore--so that the Churches may see it-- the proof of your affection, and the ground for our boasting to them about you.

Dear friends, since God loved us thus, we, surely, ought to love one another.