God Loves a Cheerful Giver
“The point is this: the one who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and the one who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each of you must give as you have made up your mind, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.”
2 Corinthians 9:6-7, NRSV
Recently, I attended the Family Table service with my oldest daughter, her husband and their 4-year-old son. As is the custom in that service, when it is time for the offering, all the children walk or skip toward the altar and happily plop their offering onto the plate. As the children began to head towards the offering plate, my grandson looked expectantly at his mom, his dad and me waiting for us to slip a dollar bill into his hands.
Unfortunately, not only was my son-in-law’s wallet empty, but my daughter had forgotten to bring her wallet, and I realized when I unzipped my pouch that I had not replenished my stash of dollar bills for the offerings. Sadness and dismay were written all over my grandson’s face when he realized he did not have an offering to take to the altar. Giving her purse one last search, my daughter produced a quarter, which lit up my grandson’s face. He quickly went to the offering plate to deposit his gift.
I realized at that moment that the amount is not the most important part of giving — my grandson did not care if he was giving $10 or $.25. What mattered was that he recognized he was making an offering to God and that act of giving brought him joy and happiness. So often, we get caught up in worrying about the amount of our donation and forget that all we need to do is take the first step, which is to commit to giving an offering to God, and then have faith that He will help us fulfill this commitment.
We have all heard the adage that God loves a cheerful giver and the more you give the more you receive. When we cheerfully and gladly present our offerings to God, we begin to see the incredible gifts He has bestowed on us and our hearts are thankful.
