One day God was dealing with me about giving cheerfully, the scripture in 2 Corinthians came up in my spirit; let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity for God loves a cheerful giver. At that moment, I realized that although I am usually quick to obey God it is not always with a cheerful heart – sometimes it is grudgingly.
Grudgingly means with annoyance – ouch again! Has God ever told you to do something that annoyed you? Have you ever felt led to help someone yet it annoyed you? If you have whatever you have given them, you have given it grudgingly. The scripture also says ‘of necessity.’ This means not to do it because you feel obligated or feel it is your duty. When I think back over my life, I realize that I have done so many things only because I felt obligated to do them – and those things often irritated or annoyed me.
I realized that I needed a heart change and that this scripture doesn’t only apply to giving money – but to every form of giving. I know it is talking about giving money – but we daily give much more than money. We give time, love, words and so much more and each thing we give is supposed to be done joyfully, as unto God and not out of obligation but out of love. I have asked God to create a change in my heart – that I will always be a cheerful giver in whatever I am giving!
