What struck me in my reading of 2 Corinthians is Paul’s narrative about generosity. Generosity has been on my mind and in my reflections for several weeks after hearing some teaching from someone who had analyzed all of Proverbs and said that the four most common themes were 1) Humility, 2) Positivity, 3) Generosity, and 4) Integrity. The teacher beckoned each listener to think about the priority and prevalence these attributes have in our life.

So when I saw generosity pop up twice in 2 Corinthians (once in chapter 8 when describing the behavior of the Macedonian churches, and again in 9 when talking about sowing generously) my interest was piqued. I want to be generous in my life but it is very easy to allow a scarcity view to stand in the way of an abundance mentality.

2 Corinthians chapter 8 is the source of the well known verse that “each person should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver”. But chapter 8 also backs up that giving mentality by offering several reasons why we should be generous:

1. “Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generosly”.

2. “God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work”.

3. “You will be made rich in every way, so that you can be generous on every occasion…”.

4. And then Paul make his final point, after listing all of the blessing to those who benefit from our generosity, he says that in the prayers of those beneficiaries “…their hearts will go out to you, because of the surpassing grace God has given you”.

God is good! Although I certainly don’t want the rewards Paul lists for generosity to be my motivation to give, it just speaks volumes about our God. He can’t help himself, He just gives and gives to show his appreciation for our obedience. He is so generous!