“Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver.” 2 Corinthians 9:7
The word “grudging” means, “in a manner expressing resentment or lack of desire.” With some synonyms being petulant, or unwilling.
Have any of you ever been around someone who definitely was not “cheerful?” I sometimes think of it as a group of people singing Christmas carols. Maybe you have a group of six or seven people singing with a happy and light heart, laughing and having fun. But one of those six or seven people just doesn’t sound like the others. Their voice, instead of being filled with pep and joy, is just monotone and emotionless. You can tell that their heart truly isn’t filled with joy.
On one’s birthday or especially around Christmas, the exchanging and giving of gifts is a common practice. I can recall receiving all sorts of gifts on my birthday and Christmas, toys, clothes, games, candy; all of them given to me free of charge and with a smiling face.
Suppose for an example if it was your birthday and you had a bunch of friends and family over, how would you feel if someone gave you a gift, but you could tell that they really didn’t want to give it to you? You could tell by the way their voice sounded and the way they acted that they weren’t giving you a gift because they wanted to, but because they felt pressured and forced to. Would you want to receive a gift from someone who had that kind of “giving” spirit?
It really wouldn’t be the kind of gift that you would want to receive, would it? A true gift given to someone will be done with a willing, cheerful spirit. It will be given because you love and care for that person.
One more example: lets say you go to a restaurant for dinner and ordered your meal, but when the waiter brought out your food, they slammed it down on the table and gruffly said, “How’s that? Is that good enough for you?” It would kind of set a bad tone for the rest of the dinner, wouldn’t it?
Who would really want to receive something from someone who seemed rather upset that they had to do it in the first place? It just doesn’t “sit right” with you.
Which is what Paul was writing about in 2 Corinthians 9. Paul taught that if someone was going to give to support Paul or the church, that they should take up a collection beforehand. That way, whatever they wanted to give wouldn’t be viewed as covetnous on Paul’s part, and they could give something freely.
When you sing to the Lord, it is a gift of our voices to the Lord in praise to Him for His wonderful works, grace, mercy, and love. It is a way that we can express our thanks to Him for everything He does, therefore it should be done in a cheerful, joyful manner. Not in a “ho-hum” bland fashion. Give to the Lord a voice of praise that is cheerful, because you love Him.
As we are to do whatever we do heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men, (Colossians 3:23) we should do everything with cheerfulness. If the Lord asked you to do something for Him, would you slowly shuffle along, grumbling and angry, or would you jump right to it, cheerfully? That is what we need to do.
And that is something that I am sure that nearly everyone can work on perfecting in their lives. Giving cheerfully; whether it is of your time, possessions, labor, finances, whatever. Do it willingly and with a cheerful heart.
In Christ,
Andrew
Teufer Lake King James Bible Church 