11 Now finish the work, so that your eager willingness to do it may be matched by your completion of it, according to your means. 12 For if the willingness is there, the gift is acceptable according to what one has, not according to what one does not have.
13 Our desire is not that others might be relieved while you are hard pressed, but that there might be equality. (2 Corinthians 8:11-13 ESV)
People can get hung up on the giving aspect of a faithful life. They complicate something that was meant to be simple. There are three aspects brought out in our scripture today about giving that we need to look at more closely.
Your eager willingness – we are told elsewhere in scripture that “God loves a cheerful giver.” The aspect of tithing or sacrificial giving should not be something we begrudge God. He does not need our money. But we need to feel what it is like to give willingly so that our blessings flow liberally.
According to your means – There is much talked about regarding the 10% tithe. This is an Old Testament amount that was to be the first fruits of both a persons wealth and their crops. The New Testament focuses more upon sacrificial giving. Looking, yes to give first to God from our abundance but to go beyond this and give from our sacrifice. Although the widow gave only a mite, it was all she had.
A desire for equality – Lastly, we are to give based on a desire for equality. Not that our giving is going to balance the inequality in the world, but that we are doing so to narrow that gap. When we have more we need to be willing to give more, willing to go above and beyond to help our brothers and sisters. This section of scripture a few verses later sums this up well, “as it is written, “HE WHO gathered MUCH DID NOT HAVE TOO MUCH, AND HE WHO gathered LITTLE HAD NO LACK.”
