Giving

I want you to think for a moment about what your heart is like when you give to the Church (presuming, of course, that you do give to the Church, because if you do not, unless you are completely without any financial means to do so, then you are in grave sin--just sayin'). Whether it is when you put money in the collection, or if you send it by mail or electronically, you have a certain attitude toward that action, and it reveals something quite important.

If your heart is begrudging and cold, and you think to yourself, "well, I gotta do this, so here it is", then you are not giving the way that you are supposed to do. Yes, it is better to give with a grumpy heart than not to give at all, but there is a certain feeling that God wants you to have about that act of giving that you are doing.

In the second letter of St. Paul to the church in Corinth, he tells them that "God loves a cheerful giver" (2 Cor 9:7). Those few words are packed with more truth than you realize. First, notice that it says that God "loves" the one who gives cheerfully. That means more than God sitting in Heaven saying about the cheerful giver, "He's a cool guy". For God, love is never merely a feeling. When God "loves" He shows that love with blessings. We could paraphrase that verse to say "God will always pour out blessings on the one who is a cheerful giver" (which is perfectly in accord with many other passages of Scripture). It even says in the larger context of that verse:

He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your resources.

That is not a mere "maybe" but a promise.

Second, it defines the attitude clearly as "cheerful". One can only be cheerful in giving away what he has if he has confidence that God will provide for Him. Those who give without genuine "cheer" show that their faith in God is weak. In connection with the first point, that means that if you know you are loved by God, then you will be able to give to the church. "Cheerful" also means that you know it was not really yours to begin with, but was a gift of God, and therefore to return it to Him is not a challenge. In fact, if He gave you the gift in the first place, then He can certainly give you more in the future. Do not rely on yourself for your financial security, for if you do, then you are denying the providence of God.

Third, we are told that the person is a "giver", which means that he genuinely gives and does not merely surrender the money unwillingly. The "giver" is not gripping the tithe until the last second because it is hard for him to let it go. He says to the church, "here is what God has given to me, now I give it to you". Also in the same passage we read:

He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.

Now that is truly the heart of someone who is a cheerful giver. To know, confidently that when you give "bountifully" you will receive "bountifully" in return is what it means to hope in God and not in oneself.

Giving to the needs of the church is not an option; it is commanded by God and therefore commanded also by His Church. Not everyone is able to give the same amount, but everyone is commanded to give something. Even those who are truly poor and unable to give financially, are still able to give in other ways to help the church with her needs (e.g. giving your labor to the church means that she does not need to hire someone else to do the work!). Therefore, give. Give with a good heart; always trusting in God's provision for your life. Because, "God loves a cheerful giver".