<p>8:8 <i>I speak not as direct commandment- </i>The Jerusalem Poor Fund project was not a direct commandment from the Lord Jesus nor directly inspired by some Holy Spirit edict. It was Paul's own initiative. Yet more specifically, Paul is writing of his request that they actually give the promised contributions to Titus at this time.</p><p><i>But rather through showing you the earnestness of others I am probing the sincerity of your love</i>- AV &quot;But by occasion of the forwardness of others&quot;. Those &quot;others&quot; are the Macedonians. Paul excuses his urging of Corinth to come up with the cash because the speed Gk. or diligence of the Macedonians requires the Corinthians to now respond. The whole argument sounds somewhat contrived. The &quot;probing&quot; or testing is an image from metallurgy, and has been used about the final crucible of judgment day in 1 Cor. 3:13. Is it too much to think that Paul thought that their final judgment was related to whether they gave toward their poor brethren in this way? In which case he appears to be far too obsessive about garnering support for his project. If indeed Corinth had such passionate love and &quot;fervent mind&quot; toward Paul as he claims in 7:7, and if truly &quot;I have perfect confidence in you all&quot; (7:16), then why this need to probe the sincerity of that love? Clearly his argument is contradictory- because his outpouring of enthusiasm in chapter 7 was on the cusp of emotion, although the recording of it is Divinely inspired.</p><p>But whatever, love must of course be sincere. Unless our &lsquo;love&rsquo; reflects a genuine care and respect for the other person, it isn&rsquo;t love. William Barclay suggests that the Greek word <i>porneia</i>, prostitution, is rooted in the verb <i>pernumi</i>- to sell. If our love is the love which is bought and sold, which goes to the highest bidder, which treats its object as a thing which can be discarded, or &lsquo;loved&rsquo; without truly intimate union&hellip; then it&rsquo;s actually a form of prostitution. Each time we ditch a friend because the going got tough, withheld love because we weren&rsquo;t getting from it what we intended&hellip; we&rsquo;re essentially showing a spirit of prostitution rather than love. This is why love in the end must always find practical expression in a self-sacrificial way. The Corinthians were to show the sincerity of their love implying there can be a fake &lsquo;love&rsquo; by their generosity to the poor believers in Judea (2 Cor. 8:7,8,24).</p>