Relationship Equality


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  1. Message:  In 2 Corinthians 8 Paul was commending the church of Macedonia because they were born in adversity and didn’t have a lot to give, but they prepared a generous offering to other hurting churches. Paul described the importance of giving out of our surplus to help others in need as a matter of equality. He used an example of the children of Israel gathering manna. When they gathered nobody had too little and nobody had too much.
  2. Command: Give out of our surplus whether that is financial or emotional.
  3. Promise:  When we give to healthy sources we are also filled.
  4. Warning: We can’t be givers only or takers only. This is not equality.
  5. Application: I don’t believe Paul was promoting a socialist way of life. He was clear in saying that the roles may be reversed in the future. Relationships should always feed each other. They are imbalanced if one is constantly taking and the other is constantly giving. This is not just in finances but also in real life relationship. My daughters and I have often discussed relationships that energize us vs relationships that drain us. An equal relationship allows us to lean in for strength at times, and at other times be the support someone else can lean on. These relationships empower us and provoke us to be better. We need to be generous in our relationships but not be enablers to those who aren’t in the game. This is tougher for some than others but this is how we were created to do life.

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