Psa 119:105 Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path. When I am not reading the Bible, how will I know where to go? His Word is a light unto my feet directing me and my direction, but if I do not have His Word, then I will drift off course.

Psa 119:133 Order my steps in thy word: and let not any iniquity have dominion over me. Again, without God’s Word in my heart and on my mind, I cannot know for sure what is sin and what is not sin. If I rely on my feelings and emotions only, then I will end up off the path that God has set before me.

2 Cor. 9:7 Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver.

Let us break this verse down phrase by phrase: Every man according as he purposeth in his heart – the word “purposeth” does not allude to the quantity the man should give, but points to the willingness to give. Every man means everyone and each man and woman should decide in their heart how they are going to give. In other words, what is the motivation in the giving. Is it to bring attention to yourself? Or do you give less to God because you are hurt or angry? Do you give because others are giving? Are you giving because you expect something back?

so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity – means that we should give willingly and we should not be forced into giving.

A blind Indian beggar sat beside a road, fingering the rice in his little bowl. Wearing only a loin cloth, he sat in poverty beside a road that stretched into nowhere both ways. The scarce travelers occasionally gave him a little rice. One day he heard the thunder of a chariot in the distance. It was the grand entourage of the maharajah. This was a moment that had never come before. Surely the great one would stop and give him baskets of rice.

Indeed, the golden chariot of the maharajah stopped before the poor beggar. The great one stepped down and the beggar fell before him. Then the sky seemed to fall in. “Give me your rice,” said the great one. A fearful, hateful, scowl masked the face of the beggar. He reached into his bowl and thrust one grain of rice toward the maharajah. “Is that all?” said the great one. The beggar spat on the ground, cursed, and threw him one more grain of rice. The great one turned, entered his chariot, and was gone.

The beggar-angry, empty, and crushed-fingered the remaining rice he had hoarded in his bowl. He felt something hard, different from the rice. He pulled it out. It was one grain of gold. He poured out his rice, caring nothing for it now. He found one other grain of gold. Had he trusted the great one, he could have had a grain of gold for every grain of rice.

2 Cor. 9:7 Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver. God wants us to willingly and cheerfully give to Him. Again, let me repeat that Paul is not talking about just financial giving, but the giving of ourselves to others and to God. Giving can be difficult and painful, but only if we have purposed it in our heart that it will be difficult and painful. Giving can be uncomfortable and sometimes embarrassing, but only if we have purposed it in our heart that it will be uncomfortable and embarrassing. The giving can be telling someone the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The giving can be volunteering somewhere that needs volunteers. The giving can be teaching someone what needs to be taught. We have to decide in our hearts that what we are giving is what God wants us to give and then give it fully, willingly, and cheerfully.

2 Cor. 9:8 And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work:

God is able. When we have the proper motivation in our hearts and we cheerfully give, then God is able to make all grace abound toward us. That means He is going to give to us abundantly. So does that mean if I give $100, then God will give me $200? Not necessarily, because God’s blessings are not always material. There have been times when we have given financially and God has resupplied that back to us, but that does not always happen. There is no prosperity Gospel which teaches that if you give a ton of money, God will automatically double it. God’s spiritual blessings can be greater than material blessings. Note what Jesus Christ declared in Luke 6:

Luke 6:38 Give, and it shall be given unto you, good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again.

He did not say that He will double our money as some will teach. Instead Jesus Christ is teaching that what we give and how we give will determine the bounty we receive back. So much of the Christian life depends upon our motivation in doing what we do.

Two wealthy Christians, a lawyer and a merchant, joined a party that was going around the world. Before they started, their minister earnestly asked them to observe and remember any unusual and interesting things that they might see in the missionary countries through which the party was to travel. The men promised – carelessly, perhaps – to do so.

One day in Korea, they saw in a field by the side of the road a boy pulling a crude plow, while an old man held the handles and directed it. The lawyer was amused, and took a snapshot of the scene.

“That’s a curious picture! I suppose they are very poor,” he said to the missionary who was interpreter and guide to the party.

“Yes,” was the quiet reply. “That is the family of Chi Noui. When the church was being built they were eager to give something to it, but they had no money so they sold their only ox and gave the money to the church. This spring they are pulling the plow themselves.”

The lawyer and the businessman by his side were silent for some moments. Then the businessman said, “That must have been a real sacrifice.”

“They did not call it that,” said the missionary. “They thought it was fortunate they had an ox to sell.”

2 Cor. 9:8 And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work:

The Corinthians did not lack anything materially or spiritually, but they were not using the bounty from God properly. Paul encouraged them to give willingly and cheerfully. When we are obedient to God, He will bless us in ways we do not expect. Why? Because He loves us. Why does He love us? Because He loves us. That is all the reason we need to know. Drop down to verse 15:

2 Cor 9:15 Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift.

What is God’s unspeakable gift? The better way to phrase that question is to say: Who is God’s unspeakable gift? No matter how much we give of our time, energy, strength, and money, we can never ever outgive God. Because He gave us His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ. Go to 2 Corinthians 8:9

2Co 8:9 For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich.

J. Vernon McGee wrote: Though He was rich, He left Heaven, left all the glory, came down as a missionary to this world. He came not only to live but to give His life in death for you. He came to die on the cross. He came to be brutally killed in order that you and I might have eternal life. He paid the penalty for our sins. There is no better gift than that.