now it is superfluous for me to write to you about the ministry for the saints, for i know your readiness, of which i boast about you to the people of macedonia, saying that achaia has been ready since last year. and your zeal has stirred up most of them. [2 cor 9:1-2]
paul had a lot of options in how he could have approached corinth about their giving. he could have easily said how the other groups were so generous, more generous than they were, and corinth needed to pick up the slack. but, he didn’t.
he turned what could have been criticism into encouragement.
it is one thing to encourage someone directly and a whole other level of a compliment when someone speaks highly of you to others. some might tell you what you think you want to hear or give encouragement only to reciprocate, but you speak highly about someone to someone else only when it is true.
what would it look like to make a habit of boasting of others to others? how much zeal would it stir up?
~ natalie schmidt