Accordingly, we urged Titus that as he had started, so he should complete among you this act of grace. 7 But as you excel in everything—in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in all earnestness, and in our love for you—see that you excel in this act of grace also.

There is something of an irony here, and maybe Paul is teasing the Corinthians just a little. Because the truth is that they were proud of their spiritual attainments. They believed they did ”excel” in a number of areas. So Paul urges them to be ‘excellent’ givers.

What will excellent giving look like? Well it will certainly mean this: giving generously and going beyond the bare minimum. Giving with excellence does not say, ‘What is the least I can get away with?’

In the Old Testament, God’s people had to give a tenth (tithe) of their income. In the New Testament this practice is not commanded as such, but what we do see is that Christian giving is to be proportionate to one’s income and means. This is a personal point of view, but I have long thought along these lines: ‘If they had to give a tenth under the Old Covenant, why would I want to give less, living, as I do, on this side of the Cross and Resurrection, and having so much more revelation, and privileges, than any Old Testament believer?’ I agree with the person who said he regarded the tithe as the floor and not the ceiling of Christian giving.

Excellence in giving seeks to rise above floor level!

As someone put it, do we give God a tip or a tithe?