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Biblical Finances – 2 Corinthians 9
As I read through my Bible, I try to pull out useful and/or interesting nuggets. And since I have a personal finance blog, I also try to share the relevant ones with you here.
This financial lesson comes from a book from the new testament. In 2 Corinthians 8 & 9, Paul is discussing a generous monetary gift that was promised by the Corinthians to the Christians living in Jerusalem. The letter is written in advance of Paul visiting the Corinth to receive the gift and he is discussing some attitudes about giving from which we can hopefully learn.
The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. 2 Corinthians 9:6-7 (ESV)
Certainly there is a well known point that leaps out of this passage immediately – that of God loving a cheerful giver. I’m sure most people have heard that phrase before. But what does it really mean to be a cheerful giver? Well, I could look it up in a dictionary but the keys are already in the passage. Being a cheerful giver simply clarifies the previous statement of not giving reluctantly or giving as if you are forced to give. To me, I think it can be distilled down to giving because you want to give.
Give more to get more?
The really interesting financial concept in this passage is found in the previous verse. And this is quite an intriguing concept indeed because taken at face value, it goes against basic commonsense. Allow me to paraphrase – whoever gives a little bit of what he/she has away will only get a little bit back, but whoever gives a lot of it away will get a lot back. How crazy is that – that doesn’t make sense, right? Maybe it doesn’t make sense in human terms, but remember that this it the Bible we’re talking about here.
Maybe this isn’t even talking strictly about finances. Maybe this is talking about quality of life or true holistic prosperity. When you give money or time or assistance to help others or make their lives better does that increase the quality of your life at all? In its simplest form: does it make you feel good? Even if you never get any financial return on that investment, would it still be worth it? I think it certainly is most, if not all, of the time. On top of that, however, I would also suggest that those often help out and gladly do favors for others will find the people around them willing to help them out as well.
A few other principles can be gleaned from two verses that follow shortly after those mentioned above.
He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness. You will be enriched in every way to be generous in every way, which through us will produce thanksgiving to God. 2 Corinthians 9:10-11 (ESV)
I think these verses are disclosing how verse 6 above works. How does it work that when we sow bountifully we will also reap bountifully? I think these verses teach us that God, who supplies our seed for sowing, will also multiply that seed and the resulting harvest. We need to act as conduits for his blessing to flow through us and out to others around us. The more generous we are in giving and helping, the more the people around us will be blessed and, according to verse 11, the more we will be enriched and blessed as well! The more generous we are, the more we will be enriched so that, in turn, we can be even more generous. To simplify it, I believe that when we share our blessings with others, we show God that we can be trusted to use his resources unselfishly instead of hoarding them for ourselves.
Finally, the end result of all of this is that our giving and especially our attitude in giving produces thanksgiving to God.
So give and give cheerfully, see how bountifully you can sow and see how many people you can bless…try it and see what happens to those around you and to you yourself.
God bless…
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3 Responses to “Biblical Finances – 2 Corinthians 9”
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I totally agree with the article. I have found myself truly blessed by God the more I give. Not only monetarily but also by the giving of my time.
I think we miss out on God’s blessings so often because we’re busy with so many other things.
Right now is a truly trying time for everyone, and while the finances may not be there to give, we can all give of our time.
And sometimes the time you give to say a kind word, or help someone in need, will go further than the money we could give them.
@youreverydaychristian – You make some great points here. Sometimes it’s a lot harder to give of your time and kindness than simply writing a check but like you said, that can go a lot further at times.
I would like to say “a great posting” what a interesting post. This is really great. Keep doing what you’re doing!