Why Do We Give?
"Thanks be to God for his inexpressible Gift!" –2 Corinthians 9:15
Every Sunday morning when we pass the offering plate during our corporate worship service, we emphasize two things. First, we assure guests or visitors that they should not feel any obligation to give. We are not interested in taking their money, but we want to connect with their hearts. Second, we encourage all those who are going to give to do so “cheerfully” as an act of worship to God. But what does it mean to “give cheerfully”? And where do we get that phrase?
In 2 Corinthians, Paul encourages the church to provide a financial gift for the struggling church in Jerusalem, which does not have some of the advantages that the Corinthian church does. He then writes:
Many have misused this verse to communicate that, if you give money away, God will bless you by making you richer and richer. However, this misses the entire intended analogy between what you sow and what you reap. A cheerful giver is not the giver who gives with a smile on his face, dreaming of what he’s going to buy when God pays him back (with interest!). Look at the harvest worth rejoicing for that Paul identifies in the next few verses:
So how can we give away our possessions cheerfully? We can do so because God promises to do two things as we give our resources away. First, Paul does seem to imply that there is a financial or material component to this. But his point isn’t that as we give more and more away God will make us rich. His point is that, as we give more and more away, God will give us more and more to give away. We break God’s intention when we try to hold onto the seed we’ve been given to sow and use it for some other purpose. We become like an Israelite trying to hold onto their daily Manna, only to have it waste away (Exodus 16).
Second, Paul identifies that the ultimate harvest brought forth from our generosity is not our own personal wealth, and it’s not even our own sense of fulfillment or purpose (things we’ve been given freely through Christ, which can’t be bought). No, the harvest of our giving is our righteousness. As we give more and more away, we are formed more and more into the image of Christ. Giving not only demonstrates our righteousness, but brings it about in our hearts as we experience the freedom of letting go of the things of this world and trusting in the promises, care, and provision of our Father. Paul sums this all up in verse 11 as he writes:
In addition to summing up the previous two points, Paul adds a third benefit of our giving: it produces thanksgiving and worship of God. The recipients of our giving, and any others who get to see the benefits, worship God and thank Him for His provision. Think of how praise flows out of you when you don’t know how a situation is going to work out and God provides for you. When we give, we are used by God to inspire that kind of praise and worship of him.
When you give God allows you to give more, Christ-likeness is produced in you, and worship and thanksgiving are produced in the lives of countless others. That is quite a trifecta! And we haven’t even mentioned other additional blessings—like seeing someone’s felt needs being met, or seeing how others use those resources in ways you could never use them. If you understand why God asks you to give, it would be hard for your giving not to be cheerful.
If your giving is reluctant, you have obviously misunderstood what God designed giving and material possessions to be. Giving is to be cheerful because there are so many reasons for rejoicing in what our giving produces. There’s no investment on earth that can offer that kind of return. When Christ came he set up an entirely new economy in which the standard for “blessedness” is turned on its head and the model of joyful generosity is found in his death and resurrection. Cheerful giving only ultimately makes sense in light of being given so much. As we continue to grow in our own joyful generosity, we truly do become more like Christ, the perfectly joyfully generous One.
Every Sunday morning when we pass the offering plate during our corporate worship service, we emphasize two things. First, we assure guests or visitors that they should not feel any obligation to give. We are not interested in taking their money, but we want to connect with their hearts. Second, we encourage all those who are going to give to do so “cheerfully” as an act of worship to God. But what does it mean to “give cheerfully”? And where do we get that phrase?
In 2 Corinthians, Paul encourages the church to provide a financial gift for the struggling church in Jerusalem, which does not have some of the advantages that the Corinthian church does. He then writes:
"The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver." –2 Cor 9:6-7
Many have misused this verse to communicate that, if you give money away, God will bless you by making you richer and richer. However, this misses the entire intended analogy between what you sow and what you reap. A cheerful giver is not the giver who gives with a smile on his face, dreaming of what he’s going to buy when God pays him back (with interest!). Look at the harvest worth rejoicing for that Paul identifies in the next few verses:
"And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work. As it is written, ‘He has distributed freely, he has given to the poor; his righteousness endures forever.’ He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness." –2 Cor 9:8-10
So how can we give away our possessions cheerfully? We can do so because God promises to do two things as we give our resources away. First, Paul does seem to imply that there is a financial or material component to this. But his point isn’t that as we give more and more away God will make us rich. His point is that, as we give more and more away, God will give us more and more to give away. We break God’s intention when we try to hold onto the seed we’ve been given to sow and use it for some other purpose. We become like an Israelite trying to hold onto their daily Manna, only to have it waste away (Exodus 16).
Second, Paul identifies that the ultimate harvest brought forth from our generosity is not our own personal wealth, and it’s not even our own sense of fulfillment or purpose (things we’ve been given freely through Christ, which can’t be bought). No, the harvest of our giving is our righteousness. As we give more and more away, we are formed more and more into the image of Christ. Giving not only demonstrates our righteousness, but brings it about in our hearts as we experience the freedom of letting go of the things of this world and trusting in the promises, care, and provision of our Father. Paul sums this all up in verse 11 as he writes:
"You will be enriched in every way to be generous in every way, which through us will produce thanksgiving to God." –2 Cor 9:11
In addition to summing up the previous two points, Paul adds a third benefit of our giving: it produces thanksgiving and worship of God. The recipients of our giving, and any others who get to see the benefits, worship God and thank Him for His provision. Think of how praise flows out of you when you don’t know how a situation is going to work out and God provides for you. When we give, we are used by God to inspire that kind of praise and worship of him.
When you give God allows you to give more, Christ-likeness is produced in you, and worship and thanksgiving are produced in the lives of countless others. That is quite a trifecta! And we haven’t even mentioned other additional blessings—like seeing someone’s felt needs being met, or seeing how others use those resources in ways you could never use them. If you understand why God asks you to give, it would be hard for your giving not to be cheerful.
If your giving is reluctant, you have obviously misunderstood what God designed giving and material possessions to be. Giving is to be cheerful because there are so many reasons for rejoicing in what our giving produces. There’s no investment on earth that can offer that kind of return. When Christ came he set up an entirely new economy in which the standard for “blessedness” is turned on its head and the model of joyful generosity is found in his death and resurrection. Cheerful giving only ultimately makes sense in light of being given so much. As we continue to grow in our own joyful generosity, we truly do become more like Christ, the perfectly joyfully generous One.
Thanks be to God for his inexpressible Gift! -2 Corinthians 9:15
