Paul wrote this appeal under great emotion. Word had come to him of the joyous sacrifices made by the impoverished churches of Macedonia when they learned that their beloved leader Paul was collecting money for the persecuted mother church in Jerusalem.

With justifiable paternal pride, Paul overflows with joy at the free initiative of love exhibited by his "children" in the infant churches of Macedonia.

A father and mother in an Ohio city recently told their pastor of a "first" in the life of their small daughter. She had always hugged her toys to herself. If the little boy of the neighboring poor family moved toward a toy she reacted promptly and pulled the toy to herself. "That’s mine," she would say. Then, one day, on seeing the little boy playing by himself, she took some of her toys…