A Motivation To Give For Small Givers Series

IT JUST SEEMS RIDICULOUS: How can anyone be a cheerful giver?

- 2 Corinthians 9:7.

- Paul tells us that God loves a cheerful giver. That’s all well and good, many of you are thinking, but who exactly is joyful about giving to the offering plate? It’s hard for many to believe that there are cheerful givers. And that’s why you give little.

- Further, there are others of you here who are tithers, but do it out of habit or obligation. You are actually givers in more substantial ways, but there isn’t much cheer in it anymore. “Someone’s got to pay the bills.” “It’s just the way I was raised.” For those, this passage is a good chance to remember how it’s possible to be a cheerful giver.

NOT THE DEEPEST REASON TO GIVE, BUT STILL A GOOD ONE: Give cheerfully because generous sowing brings generous reaping.

- 2 Corinthians 9:6.

- There are certainly noble and sacrificial reasons to give. “I’m overwhelmed by all that God has done for me and I want to show that.” “God has blessed me so much financially that I want to use a good portion of it to further His Kingdom.”

- What this passage points us to is not the most noble reason. It’s not the most sacrificial reason. But it’s still a good reason. And it’s a particularly good reason for those who are presently small givers or zero givers. Why? Because it gives us an incentive that we can appreciate.

- Verse 6 tells us that sowing sparingly means reaping sparingly. Sowing generously means reaping generously.

- Now, most of us get pretty quickly what is meant by sowing sparingly and sowing generously. It has to do with how much of our money we give. Do I give the smallest bill I have in my wallet just so I can toss something in the plate? Do I make a tithe check the first check I write each payday because I believe in investing in the Kingdom? Do I look for opportunities even beyond that to use my money to point people to Jesus?

- So the sowing part is pretty clear.

- The reaping part, though, is not as clear.

- Let’s start with what it’s not. This is not a prosperity gospel passage. This is not Paul sounding like a cheap televangelist: “Just send in your money and God is going to return ten-fold back to you within the next 30 days!” That’s just straight up heresy.

- We know this with certainty because of reading the New Testament as a whole. It gives us no vision of God wanting to make us all rich so we can live out our materialistic passions. To the extent that He gives us an abundance financially, it is largely so that we can be a blessing to those around us, not so that we can endlessly raise our standard of living.

- So, then, what does it mean to reap generously?

- I want to talk about four things that are included in that. My goal in sharing these four is to attempt to give those who aren’t giving a vision of the good God desires to do in your life if you give. Certainly that is not to be the main reason we give, but it is helpful for the new giver to find motivation to pursue this.

WHAT DOES "REAP GENEROUSLY" LOOK LIKE?

1. Spiritual growth for me.

- Matthew 6:21.

- One of the great goals of our life as a Christian is supposed to be that we want to grow to become more like Christ. If that’s not something you care about, you can probably go ahead and check out mentally from this sermon because it’s very doubtful that I’ll say anything that is going to convince you.

- On our trek for spiritual growth, we are always looking for tools that will help us achieve increasing Christlikeness. One, obviously, is the Bible. As we read it, we learn what it means to be like Jesus. That’s a powerful tool.

- Another tool is money. Certainly, using our money for the Kingdom has (hopefully) an impact on those on the other end of the equation. We desire that fruitfulness from using our money to expand the Kingdom.

- But using our money for the Kingdom does not just impact others. It helps us as well in our quest to become more like Christ.

- How does that happen?

- Matthew 6:21 gives us a key principle. We are told that where our treasure is, there our heart will be also. So if I spend a ton of my money on a big bass boat, my heart is going to go there quite a bit. If I love to spend my money buying new clothes, my heart is going to go there quite a bit.