2 Corinthians 1:1-7

2 Corinthians 1:1-7  There is no need for me to write to you about this service to the saints.  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.  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.  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.  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.  Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously.  Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.

Paul desires the Corinthians to complete their intended gift to the Jerusalem church.  He sends three "good" men ahead of him to help the Corinthians accomplish this task.  In this passage, he reminds the Corinthians that he has been boasting to the Macedonians about their willingness to help the Jerusalem church; therefore, he would like see their gift to the Jerusalem church collected and ready for him when he arrives, so he won't be embarrassed by his boasting of them.  These scriptures definitely sound as if the Corinthians were very excited a year ago about giving to the Jerusalem church but now are somewhat reluctant to complete the task by ACTUALLY GIVING.  Paul reminds them in this letter to implement their initial desires with actions.  He also encourages them to give generously and joyfully, not reluctantly.  Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously.  Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.  As with all activities in the body of Christ, Christians should be motivated by divine love, Christ's love.  We should be motivated by the Spirit of the Lord within us to do the works of the body of Christ, for we are his hand extended to a hurting and needy world.

These ideas of reaping and sowing and giving cheerfully are central to the Christian message.  We know that if we sow to the flesh, we reap flesh, and if we sow to the Spirit, we reap Spirit.  Quite simply, in a very real sense, we are what we eat.  If I feed my fleshly old man, he grows stronger each day, but if I minister to the new creation within, then the Spirit of God takes more and more control of my life and I become more like Jesus, more willing to be conformable to his desires and his will for my life.  Yes, God loves a cheerful giver.  God loves a committed servant and a dutiful son or daughter; He loves children who are quick to listen and ready to obey his voice, in the little things and the big things.  We learn obedience one step at a time as we begin to say, "Yes," to God when opportunities to serve and to give arise in our lives.  

Recently at our church, we received baby bottles that we took home to fill up with money in support of families who want to adopt children and who need financial support.  Here is an area where we can be like the Corinthian church--where we can have our offerings ready and bring them back gladly on Father's Day to give to those in need of encouragement.  Each of us knows of other areas where help is needed: missionaries, orphans, church plants and so on.  A few months ago, Jacqueline and I began sending a monthly offering to Charity Lanman, a missionary supported by Evergreen Church, who gives herself unselfishly under harsh and dangerous conditions in Nyinbuli, Sudan.  Whatever the need or the people God has placed on your heart, as with Paul, I urge you to give as the Lord has given to you, not grudgingly, not because you have an excess to give, not out of guilt, but gladly; and you will know the joy that comes from walking in the Spirit and obeying the Law of Love, the perfect will of your Father in Heaven.