2 Corinthians 9:6-8: The Christian and Giving

"Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver." 2 Corinthians 9:6-8

This morning we talk about everyone's favorite subject: giving. Now, don't worry, I'm not going to ask you for your money (though, if you'd like to give it to me, I wouldn't oppose). Yet, I want to bring to our attention a biblical command that is often missed. Churches often don't like to talk about giving because they think that their congregation will think that they are trying to get something out of them. Yet, the Bible talks about the Christian and giving, and thus we must talk about giving.

Now before I go any further, I want to point out that 2 Corinthians 9:7 does not give us a comprehensive systematic theology on "giving." There are many, many other Bible verses that we ought to study if we want to understand the whole biblical picture on how we ought to give, but today I simply want to take time to realize what these verses point out to us.

Thus, let us begin. Paul starts out this simple verse with a command: "Each one must give..." Though there are conditions and stipulations to giving, we must realize where Paul starts: with a command. Furthermore, there are no exceptions to this command. Each and every one must give. In other words, if you call yourself a Christian, you have a duty to give at least a portion of your money to your local church. Plain and simple. No if's, and's, or but's.

Yet next, Paul tells us how to give. Ultimately, he gives us one way how to give, two ways how not to give, and the reason why. First, let's look at the way we should give.

Paul says that we should give as we have "decided in our heart[s]." Now immediately, many of you are rejoicing: "Well, I've decided in my heart to only give 3% of my income to Christ, and since I've decided this in my own heart between myself and God, you cannot judge me for it." Let us realize that that is not exactly the point here. God loves a "cheerful" giver, not a giver who gives the least that he possibly can to get by. Now, I'm also not going to tell you how much you ought to give (though, there are many Bible verses that seem to support the 10%, which we don't have time to look into today), I think Paul's point is this: before you give, go to God in prayer. Look to God, and in your own heart ask him how you can be faithful with your giving. Each of us has a certain sum of money, and we ought to, within our own hearts, ask God how to be faithful to him with that money. Furthermore, this ought to be a private act, not a public one. The sum of our giving ought to be decided within our own heart before God, that we might not display it publically. Thus, giving what we have "decided in our heart" refers to private conviction, not personal preference.

Yet, Paul tells us two reasons how not to give. We ought not to give reluctantly nor under compulsion. In other words, our attitude toward giving shouldn't be "I wish I didn't have to do this" or "I feel like I have to." We shouldn't be giving with a regretful attitude, only doing it because the "pastor said so." Nor should we be giving with a pressured attitude, feeling as if we have to give in order to remain righteous before God. For we are saved by grace, not by works! Now, let me point this out as well, just because you may have one of these two attitudes doesn't mean you should stop giving. Rather, it means you need a heart change. If you're giving because you feel like you have to, or if you're regretting your gift after you've given it, the solution isn't to stop giving, but to have a change of heart.

Yet, Paul grounds all of what he says in this: God loves a cheerful giver. The reason why we ought not to give because we "have" to is because God wants us to give because we "want" to! If we're giving out of compulsion, we are missing the grace, provision, and beauty of God. In the verse next verse, our God promises to provide for all of our needs (2 Cor. 9:8). Is this not interesting? God commands us to give but then promises to be the one who will provide us with something to give as well as to provide us with something more to give after we have already given. Ultimately, all we have is already Christ's, thus we ought to cheerfully, without reluctance, offer it back to him.

Now, I realize there are many other questions about the Christian and faithful giving. And I also know that there are many bills, taxes, and turmoils in life. But let us not forget that God has commanded us to give. To not put money in the offering plate is a sin against God. You are taking advantage of both your pastors and God if you are not consistently putting money in the offering plate each week. Do not miss this. Our God has called us to give, and we ought to do so faithfully, and cheerfully! Amen.