Read for This Week’s Study: 2 Corinthians 8-9; John 3:16; John 17:5; Luke 9:58; Rev. 13:8; Rom. 12:8; Rom. 15:26, 27.

Memory Text: “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich” (2 Corinthians 8:9, NKJV).

The Opening Question: How do you respond to the verse in the Bible that says God loves a cheerful giver?

The lesson this week is based on 2 Corinthians chapters 8 and 9, two chapters in which Paul talks to the Corinthians about a gift they had promised to raise. As best we can tell, the church in Jerusalem was in trouble because of a lack of money, perhaps brought on by something that caused the crops there to fail, a real problem in an agrarian economy. At the same time, in Macedonia and in Corinth, things were better though the Macedonians were by no means flush with money. As these chapters progress, we learn several things about giving, and not just about giving money.

The first thing to learn is that any ability to give, and any willingness to give, is predicated on the fact that we have already been recipients of the grace of God, first of all for salvation, but then also by virtue of the fact that the ability to earn money and to use it well, comes from a knowledge of God. Belief in God produces a sense of personal responsibility and also a desire to use whatever resources we have in hand well.

A second thing to be learned here is that a spirit or willingness to be generous, is a characteristic of God that will show up in the lives of those who follow him. People who have been the recipients of the good news, rather quickly develop a desire to do whatever they can to make sure those who have not heard will have a chance to hear. They give time, influence as well as money in hopes of achieving the desired goal.

A third thing we learn is that giving of whatever resources we have should be done willingly. There is no place here for coercion nor for giving motivated by guilt. If we realize that God was generous with us in giving his son to come as a sacrifice to save us, that same giving spirit ought to infect our lives. Paul notes that God loves a cheerful giver! When giving is motivated by the right spirit, gifts of time and influence and even money are given cheerfully, bringing joy to the giver and benefit to the receiver.

Another thing to be learned is that giving is best facilitated when there is a plan. In these chapters, on more than one occasion Paul talks about the plan made by the Macedonians, and the plan made by the Corinthians, and the plan of having his helpers gather and transport whatever monies were raised. This is not to deny the value of spontaneous giving, but it is to say that planned giving enables a sense of unity to grow as it also helps people be more strategic in their giving. It is quite amazing how effective collective giving can be, how focused it can be on fulfilling specific needs.

It is noteworthy that Paul writes about how the gift will be carefully and responsibly administered and distributed. He makes the point that he wants the whole matter of the collection and distribution to be beyond criticism. He wrote of taking pains to do what is right in the eyes of God and man. Here is an important point. The work of God involves both a divine and a human dimension. And, on the human side, it calls for work to be done in a responsible and business-like manner. In modern times, that would suggest there be policies and protocols to protect the process, that there be auditors, perhaps, to testify to the rectitude of the activities, and there should be a willingness to tell the givers just how the money was used.

It is also interesting to read the effects that Paul expected to accrue at the end of the process. Not only would the fellow Christians be lifted up from their destitution, but God would be glorified. Other people would see what had happened and be impressed by the good works of the believers to the point of at least becoming curious about what it was that produced such action.

Another thing worthy of noting is the instruction that giving should be done proportionately, meaning that those with much would give much and those with little would give little, everyone giving as they chose and were able. The idea was for people to give according to what they had, not according to what they do not have. This would mean that the burden of giving would be born equally among the believers.