2 Corinthians 9:6-15: a reflection

6Remember this: he who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly. He who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. 7Let each man give according as he has determined in his heart, not grudgingly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. 8And God is able to make all grace abound to you, that you, always having all sufficiency in everything, may abound to every good work. 9As it is written, “He has scattered abroad. He has given to the poor. His righteousness remains forever.” 10Now may he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food, supply and multiply your seed for sowing, and increase the fruits of your righteousness, 11you being enriched in everything for all generosity, which produces thanksgiving to God through us. 12For this service of giving that you perform not only makes up for lack among the saints, but abounds also through much giving of thanks to God, 13seeing that through the proof given by this service, they glorify God for the obedience of your confession to the Good News of Christ and for the generosity of your contribution to them and to all, 14while they themselves also, with supplication on your behalf, yearn for you by reason of the exceeding grace of God in you. 15Now thanks be to God for his unspeakable gift!

Paul lays down a principle about generosity, drawn from the world of farming: whoever sows sparingly will reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will reap bountifully. Giving is like sowing seed; it is not loss but investment. And he adds a word about the spirit of it: each should give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. What God delights in is not merely the gift but the glad, willing heart behind it.

Paul then anchors generosity in the character of God, who is himself the great giver. God is able to make all grace abound to you, he says, so that having all you need, you may abound in every good work. The one who supplies seed to the sower will supply and multiply your resources, enriching you so that you can be generous. Generosity, in Paul's vision, is not a drain that leaves you depleted but a channel through which God's abundant supply flows out to others and back in thanksgiving to him.

This reshapes how you can think about giving. Generosity is not loss but sowing; the cheerful giver is the one God loves; and the God who supplies the seed will keep supplying, so that you can keep giving. Do not give grudgingly or fearfully, as though what you give is simply gone. Give cheerfully, trusting the God who provides, and watch how he uses your generosity to meet needs and to overflow in gratitude to him. And thanks be to God, Paul ends, for his indescribable gift, the ultimate generosity from which all ours flows.

Lord, you love a cheerful giver, and you supply the very seed we sow, so that we can keep giving. Free me from giving grudgingly or fearfully, as though what I give is simply lost. Make me a cheerful, generous giver, trusting you to provide, and let my giving overflow in gratitude to you. Thank you for your own indescribable gift, from which all my generosity flows. Amen.