Scripture

Whatever you give is acceptable if you give eagerly. And give according to what you have, not what you don’t have.

Observation

Paul encourages the Corinthians to give generously to support the church in Jerusalem. The churches in Macedonia gave generously, even though they are poor. They gave far more than they could afford. They begged Paul repeatedly for the privilege of sharing in the gift.

Paul wants to encourage the Corinthians to continue in this gift of generosity. They started a year ago, now they should finish. He wants the eagerness they showed in the beginning to be matched in their giving now. The amount of money is not as important as their attitude.

Application

I believe that tithing, that is giving a tenth of your income to your local church, is a basic christian practice that leads us into a range of freedoms. While the tithe is “required”, we also have the freedom to give above and beyond this.

Whenever we are giving to others, it is our attitude that is important. We should always be eager to share from our prosperity to meet the needs of other people.

In that sense, it doesn’t matter how much or how little we give, as long as it is done with joy. The worst thing in the world is to give reluctantly, or worse, with bitterness. That just undermines any goodness our gift might contain.

I know of some business people who practise aspirational tithing. That is, they give 10% of where they would like the business to be at in twelve months’ time. That is a good attitude to have, but it is not expected that anyone should do this unless God calls them to do so. Paul tells us that we should give according to what we have, not what we don’t have.

God wants us to be generous, even sacrificial in our giving to others.

Prayer

Lord, please grow me in this area of generosity. Help me to give freely to others. Amen.