2 Corinthians 9
2 Corinthians 9:1-15
1 Now concerning the ministering to the saints, it is superfluous for me to write to you;
2 for I know your willingness, about which I boast of you to the Macedonians, that Achaia was ready a year ago; and your zeal has stirred up the majority.
3 Yet I have sent the brethren, lest our boasting of you should be in vain in this respect, that, as I said, you may be ready;
4 lest if some Macedonians come with me and find you unprepared, we (not to mention you!) should be ashamed of this confident boasting.
5 Therefore I thought it necessary to exhort the brethren to go to you ahead of time, and prepare your generous gift beforehand, which you had previously promised, that it may be ready as a matter of generosity and not as a grudging obligation.
6 But this I say: He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.
7 So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver.
8 And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work.
9 As it is written: “HE HAS DISPERSED ABROAD, HE HAS GIVEN TO THE POOR; HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS ENDURES FOREVER.”
10 Now may He who supplies seed to the sower, and bread for food, supply and multiply the seed you have sown and increase the fruits of your righteousness,
11 while you are enriched in everything for all liberality, which causes thanksgiving through us to God.
12 For the administration of this service not only supplies the needs of the saints, but also is abounding through many thanksgivings to God,
13 while, through the proof of this ministry, they glorify God for the obedience of your confession to the gospel of Christ, and for your liberal sharing with them and all men,
14 and by their prayer for you, who long for you because of the exceeding grace of God in you.
15 Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!
It seems that just as God’s giving to us has been with great intention and purpose, so ours should be, that as it was with joy that Jeus’ own life was laid down, so joy and cheer should accompany our opportunities to give. While you might think that giving should be a private matter that never gets shared, Paul apparently does a bit of boasting about it among the churches. It must be to inspire and encourage the intentionality of their giving so that their participation would not be limited and small, but extravagant with a larger experience of its grace. As great as God’s giving of Christ was, He also continues in His benevolence, providing for various needs through the hands of those He can trust to share it. The more faithfulness to sow, the more seed will come for sowing into every opportunity. The purposing of the heart in giving, then, should not be a random matter that takes into greater consideration budgets and incomes, but rather the incredible power of grace to enable provision from a heavenly supply. Though not directly referenced, this appears to be a large factor in the openness of heart, in the ability to receive and administer all manner of God’s exceeding grace. To close off the benevolence of God from the heart is also shutting off its grace in other areas of ministry. How great, though, is the release of grace-empowerment in the heart of generosity that considers the indescribable gift received to be something that is extravagantly shared.
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