⁷ Each person should do as he has decided in his heart—not reluctantly or out of compulsion, since God loves a cheerful giver. (2 Corinthians 9:7 CSB)

When you are giving of your time, talent or treasure, do you do so with cheerfulness or with reluctance? No matter what we are giving to God, His desire is for us to do so without reluctance or a feeling of compulsion. These feelings can lead to a resentful nature and not the joy God desires for us in His service.

The key to our scripture lies in the first section – “Each person should do as he has decided in his heart”. Notice that while God hopes to compel us He will never do anything to rob us of our free will. This is why He desires our compulsion to be driven from our love of doing what He desires.

When our desire is driven from our love of God we find a perfect convergence between Gods plan and our actions. When this convergence happens our joy and cheerfulness becomes complete. The desires of our heart align with the desires of God’s heart. And when these hearts align great things happen.