There is much to explore in this passage of Scripture. First, God bestowed tremendous grace on the Macedonian Church, prompting Paul to testify about it. Why did God do this? Because the Macedonians were a humble and generous people. Remember, God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.
The Old Testament Law requires a tithe of ten percent, which everyone can typically afford. However, the Macedonians gave beyond their abilities. This reminds us of the story when Jesus observed people donating large sums of money, yet one poor widow contributed more than all of them because she gave out of her poverty; she gave all she had.
The Macedonians prioritized giving to the Lord first and then to others. The Bible teaches us to have a singular priority: we are to seek the Kingdom of God first. By making the Lord our primary purpose, everything we need will be provided for us.
No one compelled the Macedonians to give sacrificially; it came from their hearts. Paul mentions that they even pleaded with their leaders to allow them to be generous. I have witnessed this kind of generosity, which is quite rare.
However, the greatest sacrificial gift of all was when God gave His only begotten Son as a sacrifice to satisfy the demands of His justice. All of us have benefited from that redemptive act, and through the blood of Christ poured out for us, we have been reconciled with God.