Be sure to read the first part of this article! Let’s go on to II Corinthians chapter 9.
“But I want it to be a willing gift, not one given under pressure” (9:5 NLT; I’ve used the NLT as the KJV uses words no longer in common use, as does the ESV). This verse (and verse 7) contain another great principle that too many Christians ignore. In the Old Testament God told His people to pay their tithes or pay the penalty, but in the Church age His instructions are different.
God now says, “Do not give under pressure” and in verse 7 expands on this: “You must each make up your own mind as to how much you should give. Don’t give reluctantly or in response to pressure. For God loves the person who gives cheerfully.” Now watch some Christian TV or visit a local church and see how “pressure” has become an art, maybe subtle but still solid. God’s Word says you decide how much you give and by implication if you will give at a particular opportunity. I imagine you haven’t heard that before the offering was taken! And the word “cheerfully” is from the Greek word “hilaros” (only here in the NT) which we use in English — “hilariously”. That’s right, belly-laughing giving!
One TV preacher told the story of a man who asked him for prayer, so the preacher asked him if he tithed. The man said “No”, and then the preacher said he would not close his eyes in front of a thief! Don’t get me started on stories from my half century of church life!
God loves the person who loves to give. Verse 8 gives the promise to the givers, “And God will generously provide all you need. Then you will always have everything you need and plenty left over to share with others.” I was never told that when I was growing up; I was not told that God loves givers and I should make up my own mind; I was only told to give… and “to give until it hurt, and then give some more” in one church of which I was a member.
“Yes, you will be enriched so that you can give even more generously” (verse 11). “You cannot outgive God” was a statement Oral Roberts often made. This is true in the Old Testament (Malachi 3:10), the Gospels (Luke 6:38) and here in the Church epistles. When you give, God multiplies the seed you sow (verse 10) and gives back to you so that you have “plenty left over” (verse 8), out of which you should give again. In the doing of all this, you will be bring glory to God. What a prosperity plan! What a rich, divine, prospering heavenly Father we have!
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