10 12 07 Generous or Greedy

“Now this I say, he who sows sparingly shall also reap sparingly; and he who sows bountifully shall also reap bountifully. Let each one do just as he has purposed in his heart; not grudgingly or under compulsion; for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound to you, that always having all sufficiency in everything; you may have an abundance for every good deed;” (2 Corinthians 9:6-8)


Covetousness is the illicit desire to have what belongs to another. Generosity is the godly desire for others in need to have what I possess. One cannot be covetous and generous at the same time. And so Paul turns our attention to those guiding principles concerning generosity which counter covetousness in the closing verses of chapter 9.
The first governing principle of sowing and reaping can be stated very simply: The way you sow is the way you reap. There is a sense in which we should “give away” our excess material possessions to the poor and expect nothing from them in return. It is also true that when we do so, we know we will be rewarded by our Lord for our generosity in heaven:

God loves cheerful or a hilarious (hilaros) giver. A cheerful giver gives willingly on time. He doesn’t wait until he has extra or delay due to circumstance. He gives as promised and trusts the Lord to do His part. GENEROUS giving is a matter of faith. The faithful one gives as he is required, as promised, or when a need arises. The one who would rather hold on to what is actually God’s, the GREEDY giver (giving less than promised or required) is therefore demonstrating a lack of faith!

How do we give? How to we take? Checked the ledgers in the checking account or debit card lately? Who is getting His money? Yeah that’s right, HIS MONEY! The more we believe it’s ours the less we’ll have to use. Money is simply a tool of life. We use it to eat, keep a home, drive a car, and spread the Gospel. God provides for us as we are faithful to Him. Does He not give us more than enough? In God we trust or in money we trust…? Trust ME or just me…? Are we robbing God and depriving those in need?

GENEROUS or GREEDY; which word describes how we invest our Master’s resources?