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Written by Dynamis Ministries | August 10, 2023

“Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.” -2 Corinthians 9:7.

The Bible talks a lot about giving and generosity. In fact, depending on the translation of the Bible, the word “give” and its variations are used over 1,500 times throughout scripture! Just to put that in perspective, compare that to the word “love” that is used just under 1,000 times. This alone shows that giving is clearly an important subject to God. Digging in a little further, apart from the OT laws about tithing and sacrificial offerings, most of the teaching on giving centers on our attitude, motivation and heart of giving – the spirit of generosity. 2 Corinthians 9:7 is a prime example. In this verse we can see that giving should be motivated by joy, not pressure, guilt or shame. This shows our giving is an issue of the heart.

This verse gives us another significant insight about the spirit of generosity that is easily missed unless we go back to the original language. In the Greek, which the Apostle Paul used to pen this letter to the Corinthians, the word he used that we have translated in our Bibles today as “decided” is proaireo. The original translation of this word means, “to elect previously, or to propose to select before the actual selection occurs.” What Paul is saying in 2 Corinthians 9:7 is that our giving should be planned ahead of time. We should have a “yes” prepared to give before an opportunity even arises.

Understanding this can completely shift our approach to giving. Instead of giving being an afterthought, it should be intentional. We shouldn’t passively wait for opportunities to come our way, rather we should be ready and prepared to act when they are presented. Or, instead of randomly giving away money, we should plan ahead of time how much and where to give. Having our “yes” beforehand is important because when we are intentionally connecting our generosity to our passions through planning, we’ll find greater joy in our giving. When we are connected to joy we will be living out what it means to be a “cheerful giver.”

How can we apply this to our lives? One simple way can be with budgeting. As we assess our financial position, we can set giving goals each month or calendar year instead of waiting until the end and seeing what we have leftover to give from. Or, as we seek ways to give with our time and spiritual gifts, it may serve us well to plan ahead of time where we may want to volunteer so that we can have a “yes” posture ready when an opportunity opens up. Reflecting on this aspect of giving, what areas of our giving do we need to prepare in advance and have a “yes” ready for when an opportunity arises? When we decide in our heart to give in advance we may be surprised by how quickly God may move to send those opportunities our way!