8:16,17
Titus was very precious to Paul, and the later letter to Titus demonstrates this. Paul was delighted that Titus had the same concern for the Corinthians that he had. When we care for someone or something we can sometimes feel alone in that care or concern, wondering “is it just me”. Knowing that God has put the same concern on someone else’s heart can be a great encouragement to us. Titus was also on board with the appeal as well, and he was going to Corinth to help organise it.
8:18.19
The “brother who is praised by all the churches” isn’t named, but Titus was not coming alone, but with a respected brother. It was not just Paul who was praising the other brother, but he had been chosen by the churches to accompany Paul etc in collecting the money. Paul was not collecting the money for himself, but for the churches in Jerusalem and to honour the Lord.
8:20,21
Money can be a major bone of contention in churches, and when things go wrong money, sex or power will usually be involved, possible all three of them! Even when things are not going wrong, these are areas where the enemy will seek to attack and accuse. So we need to be exceedingly careful and to ensure that we are above reproach. We do this first so that we do not fall for temptation, and secondly that if we are accused we can give a clear answer and we know in our hearts that we have acted properly. So Paul made proper arrangements for the collection so that everything was above board.
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