2 Corinthians 8:12

New International Version (NIV)

For if the willingness is there, the gift is acceptable according to what one has, not according to what one does not have.

For meditation

Two things about giving I have found helpful – willingness and ability. It’s very simple. I have in my heart to give. I have the ability to give. I willingly give in proportion to what I have with a smile.

Unfortunately, giving has become a tool of oppression in our churches. Many come to church with heavy hearts, not necessarily because of a situation in their homes, but the pressure to give, and the guilt one is made to feel if he cannot give or to give as much as the next person. Some churches have developed fundraising specialists for making appeals. This blessing of God has become a   tool of oppression to empty people’s pockets and purses. They make God the Managing Director of the Lottery Department of heaven, with the angels cataloguing those who give, and very “generously.” The poor congregant is impressed upon with the idea that such are the people God marks for His special visitation with heaven’s bounty. To strengthen their appeal, they get people to testify to how much they have been blessed because they gave.

.Now in some churches you don’t have to worry about not having enough cash for offering, tithe, or special appeal. A point-of-sale-terminal is available to take money off your credit or debit card. There is nothing wrong about making giving more convenient, but we must also consider the effect of our fund raising methods on the poor in our midst.

1. What have we done to God’s flock that has come to worship Him?
2. Is it God’s house anymore?
3. Is that not the same situation in Jerusalem when Christ cleared the temple money changers and the sellers of doves and sheep?
4. Do we learn anything?
5. Is it about Him or us?

In second Corinthians chapters eight and nine, Paul was making an appeal for funds on behalf of the impoverished Jerusalem church due to persecution. He could have used these same deceiving schemes to reap abundance. But no! He wanted things done the godly way. He took his time to work through the process, encouraging, yet, laying down the right way of giving that touches God’s heart. His point was, giving is an integral part of our worship, and like every act of proper worship; it is a heart to heart issue between God and the giver (c.f. Matt. 6:1-4).

The giver sees a need. The heart is touched. It examines what is available. It freely decides the proportion and manner of response. Willingly and joyfully it goes out to sow. Heaven opens to receive its pleasing savor. God smells it, and His heart is touched with contentment. He responds with gladness, and His child is indeed blessed. The opportunity to give to Him is grace, just as the blessing is.

It is not about the blessing as much as the glory our giving brings to God. The blessing is a bonus He freely gives to His willing and able child. He has promised it and will never fail to give. The nature and timing of the blessing is, of course, His sovereign right.

O, that we would show people this way and leave them to decide in their hearts to give, “not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver” (2 Cor. 9:7). “For, if the willingness is there, the gift is acceptable according to what ones has, not according to what one does not have” (8:12).

Shalom