The Only Way to Give
“Let each one do just as he has purposed in his heart; not grudgingly or under compulsion; for God loves a cheerful giver.” 2 Corinthians 9:7
Cheerful – Want to know a secret? Giving is all about joy. If you give from obligation, compulsion or guilt, you miss the whole point. If your offering does make your heart sing, you don’t understand that God sets you free. The Greek word, hilaros, describes a heart that overflows with happiness. God loves someone who takes great joy in giving. Why? Because joy reflects His heart when it comes to giving to others.
Is this the kind of experience you have when it comes to tithes and offerings? Are you on the edge of exuberance at the thought of giving? Do you hear sermons preached about joy when stewardship comes to mind? Or are you trapped in the law of sacrifice and obligation? Has Jesus set you free from paying for your salvation? Has He given you liberty to give wherever He shows you need? Or are you living under the bondage of financial obligation to God? Where is the joy in that?
The word hilaros is also found in the Greek Old Testament in Proverbs 22:9. “The man who is happy and a giver will be praised by God”. Somewhere along the road to scandalous freedom we became economic prisoners of the “faith”. We were told that tithing is an obligation. We were convinced that tithes and offerings were God’s magic money formula. We built empires based on guilt. But God had nothing to do with it. A minister from Africa, visiting the churches in America, was asked what he thought about Western Christianity. He replied, “I never knew you could do so much without God”.
If your giving does not come directly from a heart liberated for joy, why do you insult the character of God with attempts at appeasement? When God says that He detests the smell of offerings produced from ritual obligation, did you think He excluded the odor of money? Examine your heart. Look at your motives. The cheerful giver knows thankfulness as the only reason for contributing. Does your heart rejoice when you volunteer to meet the need of someone else because you have been given an opportunity to reflect His generosity?
Can we be bold enough to stop pretending? Does God care about a tax deduction? Are we ready to say “No” to appeals from guilt or obligation? Are we willing to drop to our faces in repentance over the times that we thought we could leverage God’s good will? Are we ready to turn our hearts completely toward Him and ask only for the chance to reflect His benevolence with joy?
