Charity - 2 Corinthians 8:1-8

8:1-8 - After singing Titus' praises to the Corinthian people, Paul tells them about "the grace of God bestowed on the churches of Macedonia." Basically, even though the saints in Macedonia were really struggling, they gave a lot more than expected to help the saints in Jerusalem. I had thought that being the center of Christianity, Jerusalem's saints would have been quite well to do, but the Jews in Jerusalem had cast the saints out and they were very ostracized from the community so they were vey poor. The people in the outlying areas, however, were doing a bit better, so Paul included in his ministry, a collection of money to relive the suffering of the people in Jerusalem. Not only did the Macedonians give generously but they were adamant that they give more than was reasonable. They weren't rich people, but much like the widow's mite, they gave of their want. 

Paul says that their motivation for giving so generously was because they "first gave their own selves to the Lord." They wanted to relieve the suffering of others, even at their own expense, because they love God. The article on this chapter from gospeldoctrine.com quotes Bruce R. McConkie as teaching, "Those who abound in faith and the attributes of godliness are the ones who impart liberally of their substance for the temporal welfare of their brethren in the kingdom." The IM quotes Elder Dieter f. Uchtdorf as teaching, "In the Lord's plan, our commitment to welfare principles should be at the very root of our faith and devotion to Him. Since the beginning of time, our Heavenly Father has spoke with great clarity on this subject: from the gentle plea, 'If thou lovest me... thou wilt remember the poor, and consecrate of thy properties for their support'; to the direct command, 'Remember in all things the poor and the needy, the sick and the afflicted, for he that doeth not these things, the same is not my disciple'; to the forceful warning, 'If any man shall take of the abundance which I have made, ad impart not his portion, according to the law of my gospel, unto the poor and the needy, he shall, with the wicked, lift up his yes in hell, being in torment.'... Our spiritual progress is inseparably bound together with the temporal service we give to others."

This begs the question, how does our spiritual progression relate to giving to the poor? I guess it comes down to loving others when they can't do anything for you. I love the saying that you can tell the true character of a person by how they treat those who can do nothing for them. Like when Obama fist bumped the janitor, the most powerful man in the world taking time out of his day to acknowledge a man who literally picks up trash. Likewise, poor people typically can't do anything to improve the lives of those who are not struggling.