2 Corinthians 9:10-11
Now may He who supplies seed to the sower, and bread for food, supply and multiply the seed you have sown and increase the fruits of your righteousness, while you are enriched in everything for all liberality, which causes thanksgiving through us to God.
In a time before commercial seed companies, farmers had to keep back a certain amount of their harvest to be used as seed for the next harvest. The farmer had to judge what to eat now and what to keep to sow. A failure to keep enough back for seed would lead to a small, insufficient harvest the next time.
Everything that God gives us is made up of a bread and seed portion. Some is for our consumption now and some is for us to sow (give) for our future harvest. Understanding this concept will empower you to live a victorious life in many areas of your life, including finances.
2 Corinthians 9:7
So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver.
To give as you have purposed in your heart, speaks of a plan and of time spent listening to the Holy Spirit. Too many of us are guided by what we see rather than what God has asked us to do. We see a need, a picture of hungry children or a minster who is telling us that without our money, he will have to close his doors and we give. Now there should always be a place in our giving for spontaneous generosity but this should not make up our whole plan. The majority of our giving should be purposed and guided by Scripture and the Holy Spirit. Following God’s command to be purposeful in your giving will protect you from manipulation by unscrupulous people.
Our giving should be done freely without any feeling of being compelled. If you are giving grudgingly or because you feel you should, you are wasting your time. You are planting sterile seeds that won’t grow or return a harvest. Giving is an act of faith and trust in a generous God who is our source of all things. To give because you feel forced to is to give with a lack of faith and trust which negates the whole exercise.
God loves a cheerful giver. It’s impossible to feel cheerful while giving if you believe that you are depleting your resources. You must have a revelation that to give is to get back. You must believe that your giving is an investment that will return many times the initial investment back to you.
2 Corinthians 9:6
But this I say: He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.
2 Corinthians 9:8
And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work.
Luke 6:38
Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you.”
Let’s be a people who understand when to eat our bread and when to sow our seed. Let’s be cheerful as we give, knowing that God will return to us many fold, what we have sown.