Cheerful Giver

2 Corinthians 9:7, “Each one must do just as he as purposed in his heart, not grudgingly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.”

Continuing in this idea of God teaching, even calling me to learn to speak the love language of giving I fully understand that I am not void of giving. I am certainly able to give religiously, and out of religious obligation. I am able to give in obedience when God says to give money to someone in need. I am able to give out of obligation for things like birthdays, Christmas, and other special events. I am even able to give out of compassion. What I don’t do is have a purpose in my heart to give.

What does not come naturally to me is the art of giving “gifts.” For example money can be a gift, but money is not the “gift” that I hear God trying to teach me about.

My boss is a very naturally giving man. He knows that I like Absolute Zero Monsters and not long ago he brought me a case from Sam’s just as a gesture of friendship. He also knows I like sunflower seeds, but that the salt is bad for me so just the other day he brought me a giant bag of unsalted sunflower seeds. But here is where he and I are different.

There are too many kinds of Monster to name, and yet somehow my boss paid enough attention to know the exact flavor I drink. Likewise on the sunflower seeds; I quit eating them because of the salt, and for him to see some without salt and to think of me in a moment of shopping is also something that never occurs to me.

In fact to even buy someone a gift is exhausting to me. It takes all of the limited creative energy I have to come up with gifts for any occasion. More often my family can testify I will write them something of what they mean to me. Why? Because I naturally love through words of affirmation and not gifts.

And so God brings me too this place; first a place of discovering where Christ differs from me, and then to the place of teaching, expanding, prodding, and leading to a heart that is “just… purposed” to giving.

Money is easy, but I want to be like my boss, or my Dad, or my wife and see things that belong in the hands of those I know and love, and to deliver them to them. Sounds simple, but for me the first task is going to be to pay enough attention to others to even have an inkling of what they may need or like. Wow… that is quite the challenge. To pay attention to others, like God pays attention to others.

Here goes nothing…