The Apostle Paul made a special plea to the Corinthian Church to complete their love gifts to the Jerusalem Church as they had previously promised. From this experience of Paul, there are three practical lessons that are very relevant and applicable to us today in the call for us to walk our talk in our daily Christian living.

1. The Corinthian’s enthusiasm has apparently stirred the Christians in Macedonia into action. Any inaction of the Corinth Church in this matter would have caused Paul to be ashamed of having been so confident. There is insufficient evidence to prove that the Macedonian Christians were indeed inspired by the Corinthian’s eagerness to help. However, a lesson we can pick up here would be that our actions and inactions will influence and affect others, whether in a positive or negative way.What we do can either encourage or stumble others. Are we mindful of how we act? Do we make a sub-conscious stand when we do not stand up for certain things?
2. Paul mentioned that the Christians in the Corinthian Church were ready to give and encouraged that they should finish the arrangements for the generous love gifts they had promised. Here we have another reminder of how our actions should follow our words. Without action, the best intentions in the world are nothing more than that: intentions. We are also reminded in the book of James that faith without works is dead (James 2:14-26). The practice of holiness in our lives must have resolute action follow our expression of intentions. Does our lives and behaviours reflect our life’s intentions and what we proclaim? What small but practical ways can we strive to live more like what we claim?
3. Lastly, we see how Paul arranged to have his coworkers going before him to help them prepare and complete the collection of the love gifts in advance. This prevents any awkward misunderstandings and stumbling of the Macedonian Christians who might be visiting Corinth alongside Paul. Despite Paul’s slight frustration with the Corinthian Church’s procrastination in this matter, he still extends grace and tender- ness when he tries his best to help his fellow Christians in the Corinthian Church to honour their word and keep their standing in front of others. Do we extend grace when working or interacting with others who may be hard to love or care for? How can we show tenderness in times when it would be easier to comment and put others down instead of encouraging and supporting the fellow believer constructively?

In our daily Christian living we need to remember the acronym NATO. We must avoid No Action Talk Only when we walk our talk – always!