A Glad Heart

2 Corinthians 8:1-5

“1 We want you to know, brothers and sisters, about the grace of God that has been granted to the churches of Macedonia; 2 for during a severe ordeal of affliction, their abundant joy and their extreme poverty have overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part. 3 For, as I can testify, they voluntarily gave according to their means, and even beyond their means, 4 begging us earnestly for the privilege of sharing in this ministry to the saints— 5 and this, not merely as we expected; they gave themselves first to the Lord and, by the will of God, to us,”

The ministry to the saints that Paul referred to in this scripture was money that he was collecting for the church in Jerusalem.  Apparently, the churches of Macedonia, despite their severe poverty, participated in this collection and gave “beyond their means” with “abundant joy”.  Paul held these churches up as examples of generosity.

Money is often used as the modern yardstick for measuring the generosity of churches.  But Paul used an additional metric.  The Macedonian churches gave with “abundant joy”.   

Giving means nothing if it is not done with a glad heart.  And this is true in every aspect of giving, whether we give of our money, our time, our talents, our presence or our witness, they all mean nothing if not done with gladness.  

Christian gladness is the result of  our deep and abiding awareness of the presence of God in all aspects of our involvement with the church.  When we serve and give with this awareness, it changes our attitude to one of  “abundant joy”.

“And God is able to provide you with every blessing in abundance, so that by always having enough of everything, you may share abundantly in every good work.” (2 Cor. 9:8)

May the love of Christ be with you,

Rev. Eric Lanier (Retired)