Week 13: Abounding in Love

Lesson 13 closes the quarter with Paul’s last word on the gift Corinth had promised for the poor saints in Jerusalem. He tells the Corinthians to finish it as a blessing given freely, so nobody feels it was squeezed out of them. The person who sows generously reaps generously, and God loves a cheerful giver. Then comes the promise at the center of the lesson: God is able to make every grace overflow to you (2 Corinthians 9:8). The same grace that was sufficient for Paul’s thorn is enough for a church that opens its hand. The gift meets real needs in Jerusalem, and it also turns into thanksgiving, prayer and glory to God. That leads to the Lord’s words about a grain of wheat that has to fall into the ground and die before it produces much fruit (John 12:24). Every seed a congregation scatters came from that harvest. The lesson then looks back over all thirteen weeks and ends where Paul ended: Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!