The Blessing of Generosity (2 Corinthians 9:6-15)

Bible Passage: 2 Corinthians 9:6-15

In 2 Corinthians 8 and 9, Paul addresses the topic of giving in an extended way. He wants the Corinthians believers to be generous and give regularly, and he intends to send Titus to them to receive the collection to take to Jerusalem to meet the needs of believers there. In these verses Paul uses the analogy of a farmer sowing seed and reaping a harvest as a metaphor for what happens when we give.

Giving leads to blessing (v6-7): The principle of the harvest is a simple one. When seeds are sown, there will be a harvest to reap, and the more seeds there are, the more plentiful that harvest will be. The same principle applies to financial giving. If generosity is like sowing seeds, then the more seeds are sown, the more plentiful the harvest will be. We should note that the passage does not speak about the harvest in terms of extra wealth for the giver, and this passage can be misapplied in some prosperity gospel circles. Rather, the harvest is the kingdom impact that can come about through our generous gifts. The more seeds of generosity we sow, the greater the harvest of blessing those gifts will produce. In giving we cast our vision not on what we are losing as we make the gift, but instead on the good that it will do, and as we do this it will shift our paradigm from reluctant begrudging giving to generous and heartfelt giving.

Giving trusts God’s provision (v8-11): Built into the ethos of generosity is faith. Sometimes when we don’t want to give, the reason is fear for the future. Having a lot of money stored up can be something we rely on for a sense of peace about what is to come. Yet as Paul teaches here, he reminds the Corinthians that their future is in God’s hands and they can trust him to meet their needs (Jesus makes a very similar point in Matthew 6:25-26). God is our loving father and provider, and we can trust in faith that he will still be there for us and still providing tomorrow. We can give today in faith because we need not fear for tomorrow’s provision. The application of this is not that it is always wrong to have savings (see Proverbs 6:6-8), but it is to challenge the way an over-reliance on savings can throttle our generosity.

Giving leads to worship (v12-15): As Paul urges the Corinthians to give, he shows them what some of the harvest that comes from their giving will be. In verse 12 he talks about both the horizontal impact in terms of people’s need being met and also the vertical impact, as God is thanked and praised as a result. Giving leads to worship in two ways. Firstly, people see the generosity stirred up by grace and give him praise, and secondly they see the effect as needs are met and the kingdom comes, and God gets even more praise. Giving both comes from worship and leads to worship.

Potential Applications:

Challenge people to think where they are currently on the ‘Giving Ladder’, and whether they may be ready to step to the next rung.

• Non-Giver
• Occasional Giver
• Regular Giver
• Proportional Giver
• Extravagant Giver