God LOVES a CHEERFUL GIVER!
November
27 Bible Reading: 2 Corinthians Chapters 7-9
God LOVES a CHEERFUL GIVER!
“But
this I say: He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows
bountifully will also reap bountifully. So let each one give as he purposes in
his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace
abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may
have an abundance for every good work." (2 Cor. 9:6-8)
In this key
New Testament passage on giving, Apostle Paul appealed to the Corinthian
believers to give to their needy brethren by citing the good example of their
neighbor Christians (8:1–7). He then focused on the supreme motive for giving - Jesus
Christ’s gift of Himself for needy people (8:8–15), and explained the
arrangements for collecting and delivering their gift (8:16–24) and his own
plans to visit Corinth soon (9:1–5). He concluded by reviewing several benefits
of generous giving: the more we give, the
more we will benefit (9:6–15).
God loves a cheerful giver because giving is the language of love. “God so loved that He gave!” (John
3:16). Does God really need our money?
No, the cattle on a thousand hills belong to Him, and if He needed anything, He
would not tell us (Psalms 50:10–12). But our
heart’s attitude is what is important to God. He loves to see us so filled
with the joy of the Lord that we want to share what we have for God’s kingdom!
The formula for giving is found in 1 Cor.
16:2 where three principles can be
seen:
- Our giving should be regular, “on the first day of the week”
- Our giving should be systematic, “let each one of you lay something aside”
- Our giving should be proportionate (to our income), “as he may prosper”
We should
give as an act of worship with
preparation, purpose, and joy. Then God will supply us with resources so
that we will not only have a sufficiency ourselves, but so that we will be able
to share what we have with others, and thus have abundance for every good work
(v. 8). God will meet all our needs
when we give sacrificially to God’s kingdom (Phil. 4:19; Prov. 11:24-25). We
will then enjoy physical/material
blessings (Prov. 19:17; Isaiah 58:8; Psalms 41:1-3); spiritual blessings (v. 9-10; Acts 10:4, 44, 47); and eternal blessings (1 Tim. 6:18-19).
Let us also
understand that we cannot give our
substance until we first give
ourselves (v. 5). When we belong to the Lord, we start looking for
opportunities to give instead of excuses not to give. We are constant
recipients of God’s generous grace. God promises that if we will give of
ourselves, He’ll enable us to have an abundance of resources for the work to
which He has called us (v. 8).
"I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God." (Romans 12:1-2)
