Not grudgingly or under compulsion

[toad]

“Scatter with one hand; gather with two.”
WELSH PROVERB

“Now this I say, he who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each one must 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, so that always having all sufficiency in everything, you may have an abundance for every good deed.”
1 CORINTHIANS 9:6-8 NASB

I have heard the term “God loves a cheerful giver” used many times when the offering is taken up in churches. Today as I study this scripture, I am able to look deeper and see that the apostle Paul was not just talking about having a smile on your face as you drop your check or money into the plate as it passes by. Paul was talking about our spiritual heart, and the conditions under which we offer of our bounty or our harvest. Paul asked that our giving not be grudgingly. I read this as meaning that if we give, not to harbor some resentment because of the amount or because of the fact that we had to give. Paul then speaks of compulsion, now there’s a term I can relate to.
Webster defines compulsion as, “a compelling or being compelled; coercion; driving force; an irresistible, repeated, irrational impulse to perform some act.”
A repeated irrational impulse to perform some act, this is the part of the word compulsion that I can relate most to. During my active addiction to alcohol and drugs I repeatedly drank and used over and over realizing that it was killing me, but found it irresistible, and difficult to stop. I was scattering with one hand and reaping with two. The pain that became a part of my every day living by far doubled the pleasure. Today I understand the word compulsion when it comes to giving back to God, I must not be coerced, compelled, driven or forced into giving, it is a matter of the heart. I must scatter cheerfully with one hand; therefore I will reap cheerfully with two hands. Today I see where two pennies given with a heart full of love will bountifully reap more than two dollars given because of compulsion and habit, or because it felt like a tooth was being pulled.
The spiritual principle of sowing bountifully and reaping bountifully has been tried, tested, and proven true in my life. I don’t want to go back to being a grudgingly resentful giver. Today I am grateful for cheerful attitudes in my life. I have found that they must be nurtured and maintained. The Word of God shows me how. Today God is still doing for me what I could not do for myself…………………..JRE

“There is one who scatters, and yet increases all the more, and there is one who withholds what is justly due, and yet it results only in want.”
PROVERBS 11:24 NASB

“Fear of economic insecurity will leave us.”
Alcoholics Anonymous, page 84

[cmc]

That's great, toad. I was thinking today of another way of giving - while listending to Chuck Swindoll. He spoke of giving in relationships- forsaking our own will for the sake of another. He spoke of how we are so ever-ready to defend our 'rights'- and how good it is to let love cover the sin of another. I see it as maybe letting someone get into a lane of traffic, lines in stores etc. Being a servant to each other is another way to sow the seeds!
"And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that always having all sufficiency in everything, you may have an abundance for every good deed.”
1 CORINTHIANS 9:6-8 NASB
God bless,
cmc

[best]

we are so ever-ready to defend our 'rights'

I am a Christian...What rights?

There is where Jesus tells us we should be grateful servents and humble ourself. When we take the position of a humbled servent and do so with a grateful heart, we will see all the more blessings that get lost to our sight because we were not looking from the correct perspective.

Giveing so you get, I have found, doesn't work. Giving because of the blessings gained from being a cheerful giver, I find I gain much more then I ever thought possible.
true joy is found in the giving.