Cheerful, Regular, Quiet Giving

The apostle Paul once gave a teaching on giving that has shaped the church ever since. It came in a letter to a church that was not giving well.

The Corinthians had been enthusiastic about the collection for Jerusalem at first, but their enthusiasm had faded. Paul didn’t scold. He taught them three things about how to give: generously, cheerfully and willingly.

“Keep this in mind: sow sparingly and you will reap sparingly; sow generously and you will reap generously. Each of you should give the amount you have settled on in your own heart, not with regret and not because you feel you must. God loves a giver who gives gladly. God is able to make all grace abound for you, so that in every way and at all times you will have everything you need, with plenty to spare for every good work.” (2 Corinthians 9:6-8)

Generous

Paul starts with a farming picture. A farmer who sows only a few seeds will get a small harvest. A farmer who sows generously will get a large one. Giving is like sowing. It is not throwing money away. It is planting it.

Proverbs says the same, in a way that seems upside down:

“One person gives freely and gains even more; another holds back what should be given and ends up in need. A generous person will prosper, and whoever refreshes others will be refreshed.” (Proverbs 11:24-25)

The world says you get rich by keeping. God says you become truly rich by giving. Again, this isn’t a formula for financial gain. But it is a principle God has built into His world: generous people are refreshed, and stingy people shrink.

Cheerful

“God loves a giver who gives gladly.” Older translations say “a cheerful giver.” God doesn’t want our money if it comes with a scowl. He isn’t short of funds. What He wants is our hearts, and gladness is the sign that the heart is in it.

That doesn’t mean you have to feel happy every time you give. Sometimes giving is a costly act of obedience, and the joy comes later. But it does mean that giving should never be squeezed out of us by guilt, pressure or manipulation. “Not with regret and not because you feel you must,” Paul says.

How do you become a cheerful giver? Remember chapter 4. “You know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Cheerful giving flows from a heart that knows how much it has been given. Paul ends this section with “Thanks be to God for His gift, which no words can describe!” (2 Corinthians 9:15). Gratitude is the soil cheerful giving grows in.

Jesus Himself said, “It is more blessed to give than to receive” (Acts 20:35). Paul quotes this saying, which isn’t recorded in the Gospels, to the elders of Ephesus. Giving is not a loss. It is a blessing, often a greater one than receiving.

Willingly and deliberately

“Each of you should give the amount you have settled on in your own heart.” Giving should be decided in advance, thoughtfully and prayerfully. It shouldn’t be an impulse driven by an emotional appeal, nor an afterthought. Paul had asked them to set money aside every week (1 Corinthians 16:2) so that when he arrived there would be no need for a last-minute collection.

This is one of the most practical things you can do. Decide what you will give, regularly, and give it regularly. Then you are free to respond to special needs as well, out of what you have planned to keep in reserve. George Müller warned that giving only from impulse is a loss:

“If you neglect an habitual giving, a regular giving, a giving from principle and upon scriptural ground, and leave it only to feeling and impulse, or particular arousing circumstances, you will certainly be a loser.”

Quietly

Jesus added one more quality: secrecy.

“Take care not to put your righteousness on show for others to see. If you do, your Father in heaven has no reward for you. So when you give to the poor, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets to win praise from others. Truly I tell you, they have already been paid in full. But when you give, keep it so quiet that your left hand does not know what your right hand is doing. Your gift will be hidden, and your Father, who sees what is hidden, will repay you.” (Matthew 6:1-4)

Notice what Jesus says about the people who give for show: “they have already been paid in full.” If you give to be seen, you’ll get exactly what you wanted: to be seen. That is all you will get. But if you give quietly, your Father sees, and He will reward you.

This doesn’t mean all giving must be anonymous. The early church knew that Barnabas sold a field and gave the money. Sometimes giving is public, and an example can inspire others. The question is motive. Am I giving to be seen by people, or by God?

George Müller made it his rule not to publish the names of those who gave to the orphan houses. His annual reports gave the sum and the date of each gift, but not the giver. He wanted the glory to go to God alone.

God supplies the giver

Don’t miss the end of Paul’s teaching: “God is able to make all grace abound for you, so that in every way and at all times you will have everything you need, with plenty to spare for every good work” (2 Corinthians 9:8). And a few verses later: “You will be made rich in every way so that you can be generous in every way” (2 Corinthians 9:11).

Here is the purpose of God’s provision. He gives to us so that we can give to others. We are not reservoirs where blessing collects. We are channels it flows through.

A voice from the past

Charles Spurgeon, reflecting on how God treats generous people, wrote:

“Men trust good stewards with larger and larger sums, and so it frequently is with the Lord; he gives by cartloads to those who give by bushels.”

He added a word of balance: “Where wealth is not bestowed the Lord makes the little much by the contentment which the sanctified heart feels in a portion of which the tithe has been dedicated to the Lord.”

And A. B. Simpson saw the deepest reason of all:

“This is why the Master teaches us to give, because giving means loving, and love is but another name for life.”

A. B. Simpson, Days of Heaven Upon Earth

Practice this week

Do one act of secret giving this week. Give something, money, a meal, a gift card, a bag of groceries, to someone in need, and tell no one. Don’t mention it to your friends, don’t post about it. Let it be just between you and your Father.

For groups

• What is the difference between giving cheerfully and giving under pressure? How can churches avoid manipulating people to give?
• Read Proverbs 11:24-25. How have you seen this principle at work?
• Why do you think Jesus put such emphasis on giving secretly?
• What does it mean that God gives to us so that we can give to others?