2 Corinthians 9:7
“So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver.”
As Paul was writing this letter, conditions in Jerusalem were very difficult. Persecution, famine, and perhaps a bit of mismanagement, had left the church in Jerusalem financially destitute. In order to help those in need, Paul assisted in organizing a financial gift from the gentile churches. This passage lays out the guidelines for the giving and receiving of that gift. The principles Paul presents should help to govern our giving, which we often refer to giving as tithing. The word “tithe” means tenth and refers to the Old Testament Law where the children of Israel were required to give a tenth back to the Lord. The New Testament, while not requiring a tenth, does clearly teach the need to “give back” to the Lord.
“So let each one give as he purposes in his heart . . .”
Notice Paul writes, “each one give”. Regardless of our financial condition, we all must consider that God wants us to trust Him; part of that trust is to give from what He has provided for us. He adds, we should each give as we purpose in our own hearts. Rather than giving being a requirement of the law, Paul wants us to see it as an act of worship. Each Christian should sit down before the Lord, lay out his finances and determine what part will be given back. That can often be very difficult. For some, we fear giving because we are not sure how we will manage our budget if we give some of our income away. For others, it is complicated by the fact that we have been so touched by Jesus, we want to give it all away. We may even feel guilty about the portion we keep for ourselves. To help us in our decision, Paul gives a serious of principles that should govern our giving.
“. . . not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver.”
If, when you give, you do it bitterly, then the best thing to do is go back to sitting before the Lord and determining why you are unwilling to give back to Him. Our giving should be joyous, as we celebrate all that God has done for us.
“He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.” 2 Corinthians 9:6
Paul compares giving to planting. At the end of the season, the farmer does not want to have a pocket full of seeds, but a basket full of fruit. When we determine what to give, we must consider that great spiritual benefits are derived when we give back to the Lord. In the previous chapter, Paul gives a few more principles. He writes,
“For if there is first a willing mind, it is accepted according to what one has, and not according to what he does not have.” 2 Corinthians 8:12
While it is important that we trust the Lord and give in faith, believing He is able to meet our needs with less than 100% of our income, Paul warns us not to give what we do not have. If you don’t have the money to give, it would be foolish to give on credit. The value of giving is not in the amount, as much as it is in the willingness to trust the Lord. Perhaps we need to reevaluate the way we are spending, if we have nothing left to give.
“And not only as we had hoped, but they first gave themselves to the Lord, and then to us by the will of God.” 2 Corinthians 8:5
Finally, those who gave to the church, first gave themselves to the Lord. When we give, we are giving to the Lord. We are trusting He will take the little we offer, and use it in a big way to accomplish His purposes. One of the great things about the church is, we are part of a much larger body. When I was in High School, I rarely had much cash.. I can remember going with friends to get pizza. We all pitched in and we all ate till we were full, but we did not all pitch in the same amount. I think I threw down fifty cents. Giving is a little like that. I take from what the Lord has provided for me, and give it back to Him; you do the same, and the Lord accomplishes His purposes with it. Perhaps today would be a good time to sit before the Lord, reevaluate your finances, and determine what He would have you give.
Pastor Jim
God has gone to great lengths to ensure He is knowable by man. He gave us His written Word, took on the form of human flesh, and shines as a light through the lives of His followers. He has revealed Himself to be a loving Father, who is accessible through Christ, and who comes to the aid of His children. Sometimes, because of the intimacy of our relationship with God, we can lose sight of what some have referred to as, “the other worldliness of God.” While it is important to get to know Him through the pages of His Word, it is also important to realize, there are facets of His character that cannot be known.
Grace is a beautiful word. We use it today to speak of the beauty of motion. We might refer to the “grace” of a gymnast or a figure skater. The word used in the Bible speaks of the giving nature of God. Webster defines it as, “the free unmerited love and favor of God, the spring and source of all the benefits men receive from Him.” In other words, grace is the character trait of God that causes Him to want to give what is best to men. This grace is immeasurable. Paul wrote to the Ephesians regarding the giving nature of God,
Elihu was a young man considering the discussion between Job and his three friends. He listened meticulously to the arguments, and seemed to accurately sum up the problem. Job, while not the man his friends were painting him to be, was guilty of charging God with iniquity. Elihu points out, God is not guilty of unrighteousness for the way He treats man. God’s goal is to awaken men to their need of a Savior. If a temporal affliction will awaken us to our eternal needs, God is certainly justified in His actions. Much of what Elihu shares is both Biblical and true, the problem is, it lacks any semblance of compassion.
Jesus explained to the religious leaders, that while they searched the Scriptures thinking they would find life, in reality, the Scriptures testify of Jesus. In other words, we should be able to see Jesus throughout the Bible. Sometimes, He is subtly behind the scenes, other times, He is front and center, and cannot be missed. Here, in the testimony of Elihu, we see a wonderful prediction of the work of Christ. Elihu points out, the real problem with mankind is that we are sinners and as such, are under a curse, and headed for what he calls the pit. The solution presented by this young man is that God Himself will provide a ransom for fallen men.
Unfortunately, sadness is a common feeling. We have experienced it in all its varying levels and intervals. We have had little things happen that caused us to frown and go quiet, and we have had deeper experiences that gripped us with sorrow and caused us to weep or even wail. Paul is speaking here, not of the sorrow that comes from your favorite team losing a game, or even losing someone you love, he is speaking of the sorrow that comes upon a person when they realize they have sinned against God. The Psalmist wrote of a time when he was overcome with that kind of sadness;
In the previous chapter, Job made a list of all the good things he had done. He speaks of being a good husband, caring for his employees, giving to charity, being a religious man and avoiding evil actions. These are all notable qualities and should be a part of our lives, but not one of them is capable of making us righteous or justified before God. Job made the mistake of thinking he could earn his way to heaven. He assumed his good works would outweigh the bad things he had done. CS Lewis sought to express the problem with self-righteousness in his book “The Great Divorce.” He speaks of a man who refuses to enter heaven. He thinks he is above those who have gone in through the doorway of grace. In response Paul would declare,
A covenant, like a treaty, is an agreement between two parties that results in peace. Job realized that he was at war, not with others, but with himself. The battle that raged within him was for control of his thoughts. He came to realize, the only way to be victorious, was to be certain his eyes did not look at what would stir his lusts.
Although this verse is tucked away in a passage not well trodden, this portion of the text is fairly well-known. It is not uncommon to hear this verse quoted, even among those who have not chosen to surrender their lives to Christ. When donuts are on the table and we are about to indulge, we might hear someone say, “You know our bodies are the temple of the living God, we should not defile the temple.” While it is true, what we eat can have an effect upon how we feel, and thus distracts from what we are capable of accomplishing, that is not the primary message of this passage. Paul is talking about the danger of establishing relationships that will lead us astray. He wrote,
My phone currently contains over 900 photos. Each one reminds me of something from the past few years. Most are pictures of my family or some fun activity we did together. Whenever I travel, I find myself scrolling through those photos and remembering the times we spent together. Job has a similar experience, in the midst of his trial, he begins to look back at a time in his life when things were much better. He reminds himself of how things used to be and longs for those days to return. Looking back, especially in trying times, can be very helpful, but it is important how we look back.
