Our giving is our sowing, and the more we sow, the more we reap, for God loves a cheerful giver; the Christian way of managing money is not to hold on to money but to give, for our giving is our sowing, and when we give, we will reap a harvest.
On one hand, God has His sovereign way to miraculously balance the wealth and supply among His people; on our hand, we need to cooperate with what God is doing by giving.
On His side, God doesn’t want our heart to be stuck to riches or pursue wealth, but He wants that we seek our treasure which is in heaven.
On our side, we need to seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and we trust in the Lord to add to us the things that we need.
However, if we seek to gain more riches, accumulate more wealth, or even save up for ourselves money, the Lord will have a way to cause this money to disappear.
God wants us to invest our money by depositing them into the heavenly bank and increasing our heavenly bank account through our giving.
Many times, however, we think that we don’t have enough for our needs, or that this extra amount that we can save up will be good for future problems or for the future of our children.
Humanly speaking, we all have our own considerations, and many times these seem so logical that we forget to consult the Lord in this.
Humanly speaking, we are taught that we need to save up money for later, have a deposit in the bank for things that we need later or for future problems, and make sure we save up money for our children when they grow up.
There doesn’t seem to be anything wrong with this, but the principle in the Bible is that we should not save up things or money for ourselves but rather, take care of our daily necessities, and give whatever is in excess.
If we take the way seen in the Bible, God will richly take care of us, and this is not because we work harder or get a pay rise but because He is faithful and rich in giving.
We may be stingy in our giving, but God is a cheerful giver, and He loves a cheerful giver.
We all can testify that, even though we try to save up money for later or put aside money for certain needs that we think we have, the Lord will come in at one point to cause this money to fly away.
When this happens, we need to thank the Lord for His mercy, and simply give, for our giving is our sowing, and when we sow unsparingly, we will reap the harvest unsparingly.
Not Holding on to Money but Sowing Unsparingly, for our Giving is our Sowing
According to the divine principle, the tighter you hold on to money, the more it dies and disappears. The more we give, however, the more we receive.
There’s a proverb that says, A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush; this means that it’s better to hold on to what you have rather than take the risk of getting something better which may come to nothing.
But the Christian way is not like this; the Christian way of managing money is not to hold on to money but to sow unsparingly by giving, for our giving is our sowing.
In 2 Cor. 9:6 we are told that He who sows sparingly shall also sparingly reap, but he who sows with blessing shall also with blessings reap.
If we are stingy when we give, if we sow sparingly, we will reap sparingly, but if we give unsparingly, we will have a rich harvest.
We need to have our minds renewed according to the Word of God and by the principles in the divine word.
The Scriptural principle of financial management is giving; when we see a brother or sister in need, we need to pray and give, for our giving is our sowing.
When we give for the needs of the saints, we do not throw away our money; rather, we pray, we join ourselves to the Lord, and in oneness with Him, we give for the needs of the saints.
When we give, we sow, and our sowing will produce a harvest.
In 2 Cor. 8-9 we see how Paul fellowshipped with the churches concerning the ministry to take care of the needy saints far away in Judea, and this was an important matter.
He realized that the saints in Macedonia and Achaia were in poverty, even in deep poverty, but he still encouraged them to give.
Humanly speaking, this doesn’t make sense; how can Paul encourage and even entreat the saints who are so poor to give? What about the saints’ future? What about their daily necessities?
Paul understood the situation and was very thoughtful, so he handled the matter in a very considerate way; he knew it was risky to encourage them to give, yet he took that risk.
We may think that it is easier to ask the rich and wealthy people to give but we shouldn’t encourage those who don’t have a sufficient supply for their daily living to give.
However, if we see God’s economy and understand God’s way, we will have the boldness to both encourage and entreat the poor saints to give, and we ourselves will give, for our giving is our sowing, and a harvest will be reaped.
God is able to care for our needs; He miraculously took care of more than two million people in the wilderness for forty years, and He can provide for all our needs.
Furthermore, look at the natural law of sowing and reaping; we sow by our giving, and this will bring in a harvest.
The seed comes from God – the money comes from God – and we sow the seed by our giving; the growth of the seed depends on God, for it is He who causes all things to grow.
God causes the sun to shine and the rain to come; we may sow and plant, but God gives the growth.
May we be faithful to sow by our giving so that God would continue to be faithful to cause the seed to grow, multiply, and render a rich harvest.
May we realize that, even though it seems that our supply comes from reaping, it is actually the Lord who gives us the supply, for He provides us with the seed and the harvest.
However, we should not expect that we will reap a harvest if we have not sown; we are not a “hard man” trying to reap where we have not sown and gather where we have not winnowed – this is impossible.
May we open to the Lord and pray concerning this, opening up our situation to Him and asking Him in an honest way,
Lord Jesus, save us from sowing sparingly; may we be those who sow with blessings so that we may also reap with blessings. Save us from holding on to our money; grant us to be those who sow and sow and sow until we get a rich harvest. We look to You as the source of all that we have and earn. Lord, You are our unique source; we do not trust in what we can do to earn a living – we look to You for our supply. You are the One who causes the seed to grow and develop, for You provide the sunshine and the rain. Oh Lord, even if our supply seems to come from reaping, the food is actually given by You. May we realize that our giving is our sowing, and may we give one with You for the needs of the saints so that there would be a rich harvest!
Being a Cheerful Giver who Sows Unsparingly and Trusting in the Lord in Reaping the Harvest
2 Cor. 9:7 concludes with, God loves a cheerful giver. In the matter of giving, we shouldn’t give just out of necessity, by being pressed into it or being forced.
This means that the matter of giving should not be a calamity to us; we shouldn’t give because we’re forced or pressed into this.
May we not think that giving our material possessions is like suffering a calamity.
May we realize that our giving is our sowing, and may we be a cheerful giver who sows unsparingly, trusting in the Lord in reaping the harvest.
God loves a cheerful giver; the Greek word translated cheerful can also be rendered hilarious or gleeful.
If we realize that our giving is our sowing and if we trust in the Lord concerning the supply, we will be cheerful, gleeful, and hilarious in our giving.
When we hear of others’ needs, we need to simply pray and give; when we see a brother or sister in difficulty and we remember them in oneness with the Lord by giving, the Lord will cause that money to grow and multiply in a harvest.
We shouldn’t give by having the thought that God will give us more; rather, we should simply sow unsparingly and trust in the Lord for all things.
Our money is now our own; God provides, He gives us what we need, and we can be faithful to sow our money through giving.
Even the new believers need to learn to sow, and they need to learn to sow unsparingly, so that they may reap what they have sown.
Our sowing, our giving, should be not merely in an outward way but in oneness with the Lord; we need to open to the Lord and give one with Him.
We may think we don’t have enough to take care of our needs, or that we may need some savings for later, but we need to realize that, as children of God, we are under God’s care.
He’s the unique source, and He feeds us and cares for us in the way of miracles and in the way of natural law.
He miraculously took care of us up until now, and we live by His miracles and not by our working.
The fact that we have a good job is a miracle; the fact that we have a suitable dwelling place, we’re protected and preserved until now, and we have food on the table, this is all God’s miracles.
He also takes care of us by the natural law of sowing and reaping; our sowing is our giving, but it is God who supplies the seed, and He causes the seed to grow.
It is not according to our sowing that we reap; it is according to His supplying.
Our sowing is our giving, and we need to be cheerful giver, trusting in the Lord concerning the harvest and the supply.
We are under the care of our heavenly Father, and He richly provides for us. We shouldn’t worry about tomorrow, for our future is fully under God’s care.
We shouldn’t have a risk assessment when we give; rather, we need to give and give and give, for when we give, we sow, and God brings in the blessing.
If we are willing to sow by giving, and if we sow unsparingly, God will send an increase in our harvest, and He will increase our fruit of righteousness.
It’s not about being poor and not having extra money to give, or being rich so we have a lot to give; it’s about sowing unsparingly and trusting in God in reaping the harvest.
Amen, may we be such cheerful givers today, trusting in the Lord concerning all things!
Lord Jesus, we want to be a cheerful giver, one who sows unsparingly and trusts in the Lord for the reaping of the harvest. We cast all our cares upon You, dear Lord, and we trust in You to provide for all our needs. Thank You for performing Your miracles to care for us and provide us with shelter, food, health, and all things. We trust You with our future, and we give ourselves with all we are and have to You. Thank You for Your care for us in all things. We simply worship You, Lord, for You rain down manna on us and You provide a rich harvest as we sow by giving. Praise You, Lord!
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Sources of inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, and portions from, The Collected Works of Watchman Nee, vol. 49, ch. 28, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Material offerings and the Lord’s Move Today, week 5, entitled, Principles of Material Offerings (3).
- Further reading: recommending Life-study of 2 Corinthians msg. 49 by Witness Lee.
- Hymns on this topic:
– I am the Lord’s! Yet teach me all it meaneth, / All it involves of love and loyalty, / Of holy service, absolute surrender, / And unreserved obedience unto Thee. (Hymns #433)
– There is always something over, / When we taste our gracious Lord; / Every cup He fills o’erfloweth, / Rich supply He doth afford. / Nothing narrow, nothing stinted, / Ever issued from His store; / To His own He gives full measure, / Running over, evermore. (Hymns #595)
– Work, for the Day is coming, / Darkness will soon be gone; / Then o’er the night of weeping / Day without end shall dawn. / What now we sow in sadness / Then we shall reap in joy; / Hope will be changed to gladness, / Praise be our blest employ. (Hymns #897)
About aGodMan
Amen. It’s all about God, He gives we receive. We sow He multiplies the harvest. Thank You Lord. We are under Your care, under Your miraculous ways.