“But this I say, he which sows sparingly shall reap also sparingly: and he who sows bountifully shall also reap bountifully. 7. Every man as he purposes in his heart, so let him give, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver. 8. And God is able to make all grace abound toward you: that you in all things, may abound to every good work.”
I know that giving is not one of the favorite topics to write about, but it is an important aspect of Christian living. In 2 Corinthians 9 Paul reminded the Corinthians of their promise to send a love offering to the famine-stricken Jerusalem Church. In this challenge Paul gave them, and us, an excellent profile of Christian giving. The motivation for Christian giving Verse 6:“But this I say, he which sows sparingly shall reap also sparingly: and he who sows bountifully shall also reap bountifully.” Paul used an agricultural analogy. If a farmer sows few seeds, he gets a small crop. If he sows a large amount of seeds, he gets a large crop. This obvious illustration makes sense for givers as well as for farmers. It is a simple analogy, but when it comes to getting Christians to be generous givers it becomes a little complicated. One motivation for giving is that the more we give the more we receive. This was not a new concept. Malachi 3:10 stated the same principle. In this verse, God challenged Israel to tithe and see, “If I will not open to you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.” It is really true that we cannot out give God. When we give generously, our hearts are open to receive the bountiful blessings of God. These blessings can be spiritual as well as physical. Furthermore, the amount of the gift is determined by the ability of the giver to give. (Read about the“widow’s mite” in Mark 12:42-44.) The attitude of Christian giving Verse 7: “Every man as he purposes in his heart, so let him give, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver.” The Corinthians were to give cheerfully, knowing that their gifts would meet a lot of needs in Jerusalem. When we give, we should not consider what we have lost, but that we have made an investment in God’s work. This knowledge should make giving a pleasure, not a mere duty – “of necessity.” We are to do it for Jesus in order to fulfill His purposes in our community and in the world. “For God loves a cheerful giver.” Let me reword this: “God loves it when we give cheerfully.” I don’t think that this changes the meaning. God does not stop loving us if we do not give cheerfully, but He really loves it when we do. The grace of Christian giving Verse 8: "And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that you always having all sufficiency in all things may abound to every good work." The grace of God is included in everything that we do, and that includes giving. In His grace, God has given us everything that we need in order to share Him with others. The nature of grace is to give. This is true of God’s grace towards us and it should be true of His grace at work in us. In a real sense, how we give determines how we live. In God’ abounding grace, we can “abound to every good work.” As we give, so will we live; therefore, we should abundantly give so that we can live abundantly. A cheerful giver is probably a cheerful person. A generous giver is a generous person. Bro. Joe
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AuthorDr. Joe Beauchamp is the author of this blog and website. Categories
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