Now as you excel in everything—in faith, speech, knowledge, and in all diligence, and in your love for us—excel also in this act of grace. (2 Corinthans 8:7)
It’s easy for us to look at scriptures like this and think, “What boxes can I tick off in my life as a Christian?”
Faith? Check.
Speech? Well, I’m still working on watching what I say.
Knowledge? I’ve still got a lot to learn.
Diligence? Yeah, I’m pretty diligent.
Love? I could still grow in that area.
Generosity? I’m okay, but I could do better.
Do you ever think like this?
Certainly there is some benefit to doing this. Knowing the areas where you are strong and where you need to grow is certainly helpful.
But it can also turn very legalistic if we’re not careful.
We become proud of the boxes we can tick off.
We become discouraged about the boxes we can’t.
And we end up forgetting the joy that should motivate everything we do.
As important as verse 7 is, I’d argue that verse 9 is even more important.
Why?
It’s not verse 7 that leads to heart change. It might lead to change of behavior, but not necessarily change of heart.
But verse 9 will change the heart.
So before you think about the implications of verse 7 in your own life, considering which boxes you can and can’t tick off, read verse 9. Marinate in it. Rejoice in it.
For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ: Though he was rich, for your sake he became poor, so that by his poverty you might become rich. (2 Corinthians 8:9)