Giving

Are you a cheerful giver? In former days, when the collection plate was passed around during the Sunday morning service, was this the moment you looked forward to most? A chance to give to the Lord’s work? Somehow, I suspect it wasn’t. Yet today’s verse states clearly that God loves a cheerful giver. So maybe that opportunity to give to God’s work should have been a moment of joy.

Today, I guess, most people who do give to support God’s work do so in an automated way, through a direct debit payment or other such electronic means. However, efficient though this method is, I doubt that many of us get a particular buzz of excitement when we cast our eyes down our bank statement and notice that our amount in support of some charity or good cause has been deducted from our account. And that’s a shame really because maybe we are missing out.

Jesus certainly expected His disciples to give to help those who were needy. In Matthew 6:2 He says: “So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues, and on the streets, to be honoured by men.” Jesus is here contrasting those who give to impress others with the heart of a true disciple who gives secretly (Matthew 6:3-4). But He certainly expects His disciples to be those who do give to the needy!

What I love about Paul’s admonition to give in 2 Corinthians 9:7 is the intentionality that Paul speaks of. “Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion” suggests that our giving should be a matter of serious consideration, not done under any kind of pressure or emotional blackmail, but planned carefully and done willingly with an inner delight that what God has shared with us can be shared with others too.

Maybe if that is the case, when our bank statement comes, and we note that our pre-planned designated amount has been passed on to those who need it, we can allow ourselves a brief period of rejoicing (to quote Winston Churchill).

Maybe if we are able to be someone who can give to help others, we should rejoice that we have been blessed by God to be a blessing to others. We remember of course, that God loves a cheerful giver, no matter how much that gift might be.

‘As Jesus looked up, he saw the rich putting their gifts into the temple treasury. He also saw a poor widow put in two very small copper coins. “Truly I tell you,” he said, “this poor widow has put in more than all the others. All these people gave their gifts out of their wealth; but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on.”’  (Luke 21:1-4).