May 27. 2 Corinthians 9. Christine Carr

Weekly Reminder: You Reap What You Sow

Chapter 9 of 2 Corinthians is about the heart and benefit of giving financially within the church. I don’t know about you, but I have to confess sometimes these scriptures “get old” to me. “Yeah, yeah, yeah give joyfully, reap what you sow, meet the needs, I know…” But, studying this out and putting it in context having read the previous chapters, brought forth some new awareness.

V1-5 We see that the Corinthians had been eagerly planning for over a year to send their contribution to Jerusalem. Because of this large time span, Paul wanted to confirm their readiness and ability to follow through. This is the exact reason we have a weekly reminder for contribution, and repeated reminders for Special Missions- we made an eager commitment to give to God, but are we always ready and able to follow through? If it’s not talked about/prayed about regularly, would we forget, skip, or fail to save for our contribution?

V10-14 We see what giving to God produces:

1) Harvest of righteousness/generosity- the heart of loving God and others overflows into continued righteousness. In this scripture, as well as Hosea 10:12 we are reminded we reap what we sow; sow generously to reap generously (God’s gifts, not necessarily financial- wink, wink)

2) Needs of the church and its people are met- this is both in the practical sense as well as the spiritual/emotional sense.

3) Unity in glory and thanks to God- the givers and the receivers rejoice in the acts of generosity

4) Prayers of affection- a relational pull to pray for one another in gratitude. And we know God promises in James 5:16 that the prayers of the righteous are powerful and affective.

So, you see that the reminders we receive in regards to giving are for the mutual benefit of the giver and the receiver. So let us not grow weary in doing this good deed.