Give til it makes you Smile

I wonder why we resent hearing a sermon on the topic of giving.  We squirm when someone suggests that maybe we should be more generous than we are. Then the word 'tithe' is thrown into the conversation and eye-contact stops.

It is said that our checkbooks and our calendars will reveal where our heart is. "...God loves a cheerful giver." (2 Corinthians 9:7b) This first time I read these words in the Bible I didn't understand how anyone could happily give their money away.  I didn't like paying bills, I did it because if I didn't the lights wouldn't stay on very long.  I really didn't like putting anything in the offering plate. It felt like I wasn't getting anything in return. Doesn't sound very cheerful does it?

I can't pinpoint the moment all this changed for me.  I do remember being convicted about my attitude with money.  This conviction began around the same time God was changing my heart. I had been teaching myself to pray and read Scripture.  Life was a mess and I was grasping for anything to help. My business had failed and debt was piling up.

I began to drop an envelope in the offering on Sundays.  Before long I started to tithe and it felt good.  Just like it felt good to pray and talk everything over with God. It seems that once I got over the ‘money’ hurdle, God began to tare down more walls.

2 Corinthians 9:6 (NIV)
 Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously.

I have never given so that I would get, but I cannot deny the fact that once my heart changed in this area God began to bless me in others. During my current financial struggle, I have been blessed by the generosity of a number of anonymous benefactors.  Now that this current season is ending, I can’t wait to do the same for someone else. “Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!” (2 Corinthians 9:15)

2 Corinthians 9:6-15