The Bible tells us that we should be cheerful givers. However, it is not always easy to be joyful when we give. Thankfully, in this post, I’ll give you three reasons why you should be cheerful when giving to God and others.

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Give until it hurts

On February 3, 1944, the Nobel Peace Prize recipient Mother Theresa, gave a message during the National Prayer Breakfast in Washington. In her message, there’s one particular line that was made famous. 

She said, “Give until it hurts.”

Mother Theresa believes that giving is a form of sacrifice and you should give to a level when it feels uncomfortable to you or is already painful. 

However, should you really give until it hurts? Should giving be really painful and uncomfortable?

Let’s read the written words of the Apostle Paul in 2 Corinthians 9:7:

7 So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver.

Now, Paul was saying that if there’s something that God specifically loves, it is someone who is a cheerful giver. 

Now, if you ask me, giving is not always enjoyable, isn’t it? Sometimes, we give, but deep inside our hearts, it feels painful. 

We don’t enjoy giving as much as we should. After all, we have worked hard to earn a living, right? Why should we give when we barely have enough? Some of us might have a savings goal and when we give, we might not be able to achieve our savings goal.

Some of us might be too busy. Why should I spend time with others when I barely have time for myself? Why should I help others when I can’t even help myself?

Some of us might have financial problems, and debt that we should pay. Can’t we just give our offerings when we are already debt-free? Perhaps, some of us have health problems and we badly need money to pay for medical procedures and medicines.

You see, there are a lot of reasons for us to be unhappy when giving. However, if we give, we must do it with a cheerful heart. If we give, we must be a cheerful giver. 

So, how can we be a cheerful giver? That’s what I want to discuss with you today. Because I strongly believe that God wants us to give cheerfully and He loves it when we give with a cheerful heart.

Here are three points you and I must consider.

Reason no. 1: Giving frees us from the love of money

We are already familiar with 1 Timothy 6:10:

For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.

Paul reminds us that whilst we can all love, it’s possible to love the wrong things, such as money. When we love money more than God, we’re more inclined to commit evil acts. 

We should take this into consideration; when someone is desperately striving to obtain wealth, they may resort to lying, cheating, taking advantage of others, and even murder. Greed pushes us to corruption and evil preventing us from doing the right thing.

Now, why should we be joyful when we give? It is because we are freed from the love of money. You see, brethren, when we love money, we will suffer and experience all kinds of problems.

The Apostle Paul shows us what happens when we become greedy: 

⁹ But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and harmful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition. ¹⁰ For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows. 1 Timothy 6:9-10

We can all avoid all these types of problems that would make us sad and depressed by giving. For that, we can all be joyful when we give.

Reason no. 2: Giving leads to more blessings

We read in Acts 20:35:

³⁵ I have shown you in every way, by laboring like this, that you must support the weak. And remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that He said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’” 

The problem with our human nature is that it tells us that when we give, we lose something. That’s actually a lie that Satan wants us to believe. This deception actually makes it really difficult for us to give cheerfully. After all, logic and reason tell us that if you give, then you are giving away a part of yourself.

Yet, here’s the reality: when we give, we actually receive even more blessings. 

Let’s read Proverbs 11:24-25:

²⁴ There is one who scatters, yet increases more; And there is one who withholds more than is right, But it leads to poverty. ²⁵ The generous soul will be made rich, And he who waters will also be watered himself.

Blessings come in various forms. It’s not all about money, while that can also be part of God’s blessings if that fulfills God’s purpose. When we give to others, God can also bless us with good health.

Researchers at the University of Zurich in Switzerland informed 50 people they’d be getting approximately $100 over the course of a few weeks. Half were instructed to commit to spending it on themselves, while the other half were asked to spend it on someone else they knew. 

MRI scans were then conducted on the participants and it was revealed that those who spent money on others had higher levels of happiness!

Moreover, studies have indicated that older individuals who are generous usually have improved health, and other investigations suggest that spending on others can be just as successful in reducing blood pressure as medication or physical activity.

In 2 Corinthians 9:6:

⁶ But this I say: He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. 

So, the Bible is proven true over and over again. We will be more blessed not just financially but also mentally, socially, and physically when we give, and that brethren is another reason for us to be cheerful when we give.

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Reason no. 3: Giving develops godly character

There’s a reason why I specifically said giving develops godly character. In this life, we don’t try to develop the character of any people. There’s one and only one specific character that we aim to develop and that is the character of God.

What is one of the most important characteristics of God? It is His generosity. 

He gives us life. Every breath that you take is from God. He gives us wisdom. He gives us the truth. He gives us each other. He gives us all our needs and even the desires of our hearts.

If it weren’t for God, we wouldn’t be alive right now. We won’t have the skills, knowledge, and ability to do our job and earn a living. Thus, it should not be a big deal for us if we give back to God.

Most importantly, God is so generous that He gave us His only begotten Son. We read in Romans 8:31-32:

³¹ What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? ³² He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?

Did you see that? God has given us His only begotten Son. If He was able to give us His most precious Son to us, then wouldn’t He be able to give us the lesser things we need in life?

That’s why brethren, when we give to others, when we become generous in our offering, when we are giving our time and energy to others and God, we are actually trying to imitate God and develop His character of generosity.

What’s great about generosity is that it leads to other virtues. When we are generous, we begin to be more compassionate, empathetic, and grateful. We become more aware of the needs of others and better appreciate what we have in life.

In short, giving helps us shift our attention from ourselves to other people. This would then help us to become less self-centered, and more Christ-centered.

So, this is a great reason why you should be cheerful when giving. It allows you to develop the godly character that would bring more joy in all aspects of your life. 

If you want to be happy, you only need to make others happy and eventually, happiness will find its way back to you.

Final words

There you have it brethren, three of the best reasons why you should be a cheerful giver are the following:

Reason no. 1: Giving frees us from the love of money
Reason no. 2: Giving leads to more blessings
Reason no. 3: Giving develops godly character

I hope this would help us better improve our attitude toward giving. We have a thousand reasons to be happy and joyful when we give and with that, as we give our offering today, may God see us happily give.