God Still Loves a Cheerful Giver!
2/22/2012
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“Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver.” (2Corinthians 9:7)
The apostle Paul wrote these words from Macedonia to encourage the saints in Corinth who had pledged an offering for the church in Jerusalem, which was being persecuted and going without many things at this time. He tells them to give GENEROUSLY, and ahead of time, that which they had previously promised. He is telling them that giving has to be a matter of generosity, and not a grudging obligation. No one is being forced or mandated to give, he reminds them, but that the underlying attitude in giving is that one gives willingly and generously to meet the need of the other saints. And if one should sow sparingly, and not generously, then conversely he will reap sparingly. What God expects, and loves, is a cheerful giver!
The word cheerful here is derived from the Greek hilaros, from which we have the word hilarity. It means ‘to be merry’, but it also means ‘prompt’ or ‘willing’. In essence, if you’re going to give, do it when you are supposed to, and to it cheerfully. You are not being forced to do it.
Some people hear a message on giving and they just close up. Their attitude changes. One of the major things we have to be concerned about every single day of our lives is our attitude. Whether it’s raining, snowing, sunshining…it doesn’t matter. We ought to always be grateful that we have another day. A lot of folks do not have another day! We must cultivate the attitude of starting out each day with a song of praise and gratitude. It is amazing that while some folks wake up in the morning to brightly chant, “Good morning Lord!” there are others who wake up to grouchily moan, “Good Lord, it’s morning?” It’s a matter of attitude.
So they hear a preaching on giving and they go: “Don’t these preachers ever get tired of preaching on money?” We probably will when there are no more financial needs in our flocks. We might, when people really learn the principles of Godly prosperity and begin to live enjoying the blessings of God instead of just merely existing. The ones who have the wrong attitude are usually the ones who are not prospering. I have seen and confirmed this for many years. It’s like the ‘jailhouse lawyer’ in the prison cell who knows everything about the law, always telling his buddy in the next cell, “I’m gonna get you out of here bro, don’t worry.” And that guy in the next cell probably is thinking, “If you’re that smart then why you are in here?” And so we have do have our ‘church house lawyers’, without the legal education, always seeking a loophole in the word that should keep them from giving.
Now if God says, ‘Every time you give you can definitely expect a better return on your giving”, then why would anyone be grudging on the matter of giving? God says, “This is the principle of prosperity that I’ve set up for you”. When you look for reasons not to give to God, then you are looking for reasons not to be blessed. And believe me, tithing is the foundation. You have not tithed until you give ten per cent. If you give anything beneath a tenth, it is not a tithe.
I used to know this guy. He loved the Lord, but refused to tithe, because he was so adamant about tithing being under the law in the Old Testament; he also claimed it was not a New Testament reality. Both of these are untrue. Abraham and his grandson Jacob, at different periods, covenanted themselves to tithe unto the Lord as a matter of faith which acknowledges that they and all that was theirs belonged wholly to God, long before the law came (See Genesis 14:21; 28:22). Not surprisingly, my friend never ever prospered in his business!
If we do what God says to do, He’s going to bless us. But if we decide not to do it, we are removing ourselves from the blessings. We are not being adjudicated by God; the engine is not going to blow up in your car tomorrow because you did not give your tithes today. God is not going to make that happen. But it might happen because there’s another one out there roaming around, who comes to kill, steal and destroy, and he is always looking for an excuse or doorway to do that.
When you truly understand the undergirding covenant principle behind tithes and offerings, then you get the sense that you do not PAY offerings or tithes. You might PAY your taxes, mortgage, loan payments on your automobile, or your utility bills. But you GIVE offerings; you GIVE tithes. When you PAY something, it is mandatory. If you don’t pay your mortgage, they’ll come get you out of your house. But you are not obligated to give into the principles that God has set for prosperity unless you want to be blessed! If the church is going to prosper and if you are going to prosper, then we have to follow God’s plan for prosperity.
So the crux of the matter is people’s attitude towards the truth. Our attitude determines whether we are going to hear, grasp and live out the truth, or not. Once we feel that the truth doesn’t set well with us, we close it out. And then we invariably miss living out its fruit as God ordained.
True, many times people may be out of money and can’t really give. But they are not out of time, talents and abilities to give unto the Lord. When people can also give in these ways, God counts that into their account balances and they get blessed just the same.
In sum therefore, our giving is anchored on the divine laws or principles for harvest, because God wants us to have a full measure of His blessings. He wants us to give generously, willingly and cheerfully from the heart, and with expectation, understanding the sowing and reaping process. You cannot afford to be stingy if you expect God to bless you. Instead, you should stay inspired to always give cheerfully!
By A Web Design
