… ⁵and this, not as we had expected, but they first gave themselves to the Lord and to us by the will of God.

Living is an all or nothing proposition! Well, actually, it is an “all” proposition or it is not giving at all. Paul teaches, using the Macedonians as an example, that giving begins first with giving ourselves to God. While Paul could boast in the Corinthians for their obedience to his teachings, Paul now is boasting (without actually using that word) in the Macedonians because they exceed his expectations (literally the word means they exceeded what Paul had hoped for in them). In other words, Paul had apparently expected some generosity from the Macedonians, but what they did completely surpassed what he imagined and hoped for them.

The back story here is that Paul has been promoting a benevolence project to help the poor and suffering Christians in Jerusalem and surrounding areas of Israel (see 1 Cor. 16:3, 2 Cor. 8:18, Rom. 15:25–26). He was recently in Macedonia, where he collected their generous offerings, and is now preparing the Corinthians for his upcoming visit and an offering to add to the collection.

The Macedonians set the standard: giving comes out of a life completely surrendered and sacrificed to the Lord. This is more than giving our money; it is giving of ourselves, with all of our talents, time, energy, and possessions. Everything we have is from the Lord. He gives it all to us as His stewards, and He wants us to use it all for Him, because it all belongs to the God who made us and redeemed us. The Macedonians understood that, so their financial giving was merely a manifestation of their giving of themselves to the Lord.

Is this not what Paul wrote to the Romans about?

Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. (Rom. 12:1)

Just like the apostles Peter and John went away from being tortured for sharing the message of Christ, “rejoicing that they had been considered worthy to suffer shame for His name” (Acts 5:41), so the Macedonians considered it a privilege (a grace) to be worthy to give themselves fully to God. Is it any wonder, then, that Paul describes them as “begging … with much urging for the favor of participation in the support of the saints …” (vs. 4)? It was a privilege, and an outflowing of their complete sacrifice of themselves.

Lord, I am sacrificed fully to You with my possessions, my energy, my time—my all.