Summary
Cheerfulness and the Christian Giver
Scripture speaks often of cheerfulness as a treasure of the heart. "A glad heart makes a cheerful countenance" Proverbs 15:13; "a cheerful heart is good medicine" Proverbs 17:22; "anxiety in a man's heart weighs him down, but a good word makes him glad" Proverbs 12:25. Paul himself longs to be "cheered" by news of the Philippians Philippians 2:19. It is no surprise, then, that cheerfulness surfaces in one of Paul's most famous lines about giving: "God loves a cheerful giver" 2 Corinthians 9:7. The Greek word translated "cheerful" is the root behind our English word hilarity—a bursting, joyful gladness. Why should that sort of joy be tied to giving? The answer in Made Cheerful unfolds along three movements: the point, the provision, and the purpose.
The Point: Sow Generously
The context of 2 Corinthians 8–9 is a real offering being gathered for impoverished Christians in Jerusalem. Paul reminds the Corinthians of a principle that runs throughout Scripture: "Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully" 2 Corinthians 9:6. The same truth appears in Proverbs 11:24-25 and on the lips of Jesus in Luke 6:38: "Give, and it will be given to you." A small seed yields a small harvest; a generous seed yields a generous harvest. The blessing flows two ways—those in need are richly helped, and the givers themselves are blessed in return. That blessing may be spiritual, as the recipients overflow with thanksgiving to God 2 Corinthians 9:12; it may be material, as Paul promises the Philippians that God "will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus" Philippians 4:19; or it may be both, as Paul says the God who supplies seed to the sower will both multiply that seed and "increase the harvest of your righteousness" 2 Corinthians 9:10.
The Provision: God's Financial Plan
Right after the point, Paul moves to provision: "And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work" 2 Corinthians 9:8. Because the context is financial, "every blessing in abundance" surely includes the material. This echoes Proverbs 3:9-10—"Honor the LORD with your wealth and with the firstfruits of all your produce; then your barns will be filled with plenty"—and the astonishing dare of Malachi 3:10: "Bring the full tithe into the storehouse… and thereby put me to the test, says the LORD of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need." The Christian is not under the law to tithe, nor coerced into it. But God invites His people to take Him at His word and discover that He is faithful to His promises—that you cannot out-give God.
The Purpose: Given So We Can Give
Why does God provide so abundantly? Not so that we may build bigger barns and say to our souls, "Take your ease, eat, drink, be merry"—the very folly Jesus condemns in Luke 12:16-21. Paul states the purpose plainly: "so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work." God gives to us what we need and more—so that we have something to share. He gives so that we can give.
Cheerfulness as Gospel, Not Law
This is where the answer to the original question comes into focus. "God loves a cheerful giver" is sometimes preached as law: you had better not be grouchy when the offering plate goes by. But cheerfulness cannot be commanded into existence. Paul is not laying down a new burden; he is describing what grace produces. Consider Naaman in 2 Kings 5: only after he was healed of his leprosy did he return to Elisha pleading, "Please accept a present from your servant." His desire to give was born out of joy and thanksgiving for what God had done.
So it is for the Christian. Christ has borne our sin on the cross. His tomb is empty. In the waters of Baptism God has claimed us as His own and will not let us go. Every day is one more day of an eternity already secured. On top of that, He has promised to provide—and proven it again and again—so that we may share in every good work. Premeditated, prayerful, free from grief or compulsion, the Christian's giving simply overflows from a heart that has been made cheerful by the gospel. Who would not be cheerful with news like that? That is why God loves a cheerful giver: because cheerful giving is the natural fruit of grace received.
Video citations
- "Made Cheerful" — Let's open our Bibles, please. This morning to second Corinthians, the ninth chapter, second Corinthians, chapter nine, for our study this morning. Cheerfulness. Cheerfulness. That is a wonderful…