I have heard it said that the more righteous way to give is to "give 'til it hurts" and I have, quite frankly, always had a problem with that phrase and don't find much righteousness in it.
When the apostle Paul writes to Corinthian Christians about financial giving he makes a profound point. He writes, "This service that you perform is not only supplying the needs of God's people but is also overflowing in many expressions of thanks to God" (2 Cor. 9:12).
When creation expresses "thanks to God" I find it difficult to embrace that the giving of thanks is painful. If there is any pain associated with giving, I believe the "pain" of giving comes only when an individual is not willing to give sacrificially and find themselves giving only begrudingly. When it is painful to give, it must be due to not having enough integrity to completely withhold a gift or not having the Christlikeness to freely give with complete abandon and sacrifice.
Rather than suggesting that we "give till it hurts," perhaps it is more appropriate to suggest that we simply give until it feels "good and thankful."
What do you think?
1 comment:
I grew up hearing, "The Lord loves a cheerful giver" (2 Cor. 9:7). But the word for "cheerful" is the Greek word "hilaros" -- from which we get the English word "hilarious".
Maybe instead of giving until it hurts, we should give until it's funny. Give until all you can do is laugh about it.
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