Cheerful Giver

Season of Givers

(NIV)

There is no need for me to write to you about this service to the Lord’s people. 2 For I know your eagerness to help, and I have been boasting about it to the Macedonians, telling them that since last year you in Achaia were ready to give; and your enthusiasm has stirred most of them to action. 3 But I am sending the brothers in order that our boasting about you in this matter should not prove hollow, but that you may be ready, as I said you would be. 4 For if any Macedonians come with me and find you unprepared, we—not to say anything about you—would be ashamed of having been so confident. 5 So I thought it necessary to urge the brothers to visit you in advance and finish the arrangements for the generous gift you had promised. Then it will be ready as a generous gift, not as one grudgingly given.

Generosity Encouraged

6 Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. 7 Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. 8 And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work. 9 As it is written:

“They have freely scattered their gifts to the poor;

their righteousness endures forever.”

10 Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness. 11 You will be enriched in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God.

12 This service that you perform is not only supplying the needs of the Lord’s people but is also overflowing in many expressions of thanks to God. 13 Because of the service by which you have proved yourselves, others will praise God for the obedience that accompanies your confession of the gospel of Christ, and for your generosity in sharing with them and with everyone else. 14 And in their prayers for you their hearts will go out to you, because of the surpassing grace God has given you. 15 Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!

Yet, we are asked to be giving all the time.

Learned to give from my mother.

She may be the greatest giver I’ve ever met.

We are currently in a time when we are to be giving. Yet, this can challenge some of us.

I’d like to use this time to talk about the Christmas season and how it can get us ready for 2018.

Between 1st and 2nd Corinthians, there is something that has happened. More teachers have come in and bad mouthed Paul.

They had promised that they would give to the Jerusalem, but they stopped…some people had come in and hijacked their ability to give.

Paul tells them to keep their promise, but only as a willing gift. Not as an exaction.

What is an exaction? When you give and expect something back. A fee, reward or demand is levied…this is not worship…rather it is a business relationship. That is what we call religion…not Christianity.

Paul tells them he will send people ahead so that they can give what they want and feel a pressure from him or expect something back from him.

He then teaches if you give little in life, you will receive little in life. We must all give generously what we have decided to give in our hearts, for God loves a cheerful giver.

Scholars are convinced that this is the best set of scriptures on Godly giving in the Bible.

How are you doing this Christmas season at it? Are you able to be generous? Now being generous is not being stupid and spending money that you don’t have…Being generous is more about planning ahead and being self-controlled than it is about giving.

Cheerful giving - You enjoy giving. You get a thrill out of giving.

Something to remember is that when you become a generous giver, you will connect with more people. The truth is that when you are a cheerful giver, people are drawn to you.

The more you give, the happier you get.

1. God is a Cheerful Giver

We are made in the image of God. He is a cheerful giver.

For the joy set before Him, He scorned the cross.

Look at

(NIV)

15 Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!

We are not naturally generous. This comes a relationship with God.

Generosity is a response to a God that has been generous to us.

His grace is so amazing.

Getting with a baby Christian, you hear their gratitude. The amazing things that God has done for us.

We are not who we used to be, but I’m excited about who God is going to make us.

Where our perspective on money starts is where He begins.

Our God is a giver.

If we are not free with our finances, do we know what God has done for us?

Giving is not about your skills, mindfulness, rather it is an act of grace.