<p>8:16 <i>But thanks be to God, who put the same earnest care for you into the heart of Titus- </i>We note that God can act directly upon the human heart. Although it may be that again Paul is exaggerating- for he had surely briefed Titus of his own expectations and intended outcomes, and I have argued on chapter 7 that Paul chose to over interpret the report of Titus when he returned to Paul from Corinth. &quot;The same earnest care&quot; refers to how the Macedonians had an &quot;earnestness&quot; (:8 s.w.) for the project. Titus and the Macedonians had the same urgency for the project, and Paul wants Corinth to likewise respond &quot;urgently&quot;- for the Greek for &quot;earnest care&quot; carries the basic idea of haste. The urgency was because Corinth had not in fact been collecting for the Fund as they had intimated they were doing, and something at least had to be contributed from them for Paul's boasting about them to be validated, and for the project to work out.</p><p>There is an urgency in the mediation of mercy towards others. When Paul thanks God that Titus has a heart of &ldquo;earnest care&rdquo; for the Corinthians, he uses a Greek word <i>spoude</i> which literally means &ldquo;speed&rdquo;, and is elsewhere translated &ldquo;haste&rdquo; &ndash; as well as &ldquo;haste&rdquo; and &ldquo;business&rdquo; (2 Cor. 8:16). The heart that really cares will be characterized by a speedy and quick response, not a careful weighing up of a situation, nor a resignation of responsibilities to ponderous committees. See on Lk. 14:5.</p>