God Loves a Cheerful Giver, and He Can Make You One
Preached by Pastor John Hester on October 18, 2026, as part of our Still on Mission series (Sermon 3). Text: 2 Corinthians 9:6–15.
I love football, especially the pros. When my team is winning, the whole house knows it. When my team is losing, the house goes quiet. More than once, my wife has walked in and said, "I guess they're losing. You're not saying anything."
My joy rises and falls with the scoreboard. Many of us give the same way. When the bank account is healthy, giving feels easy. But when the power bill is due, the truck needs tires, and Christmas is closing in, the offering plate starts to feel like a threat, and the math begins.
Our hesitation to give is rarely about money. It's about fear: If I do what God asks, I won't have enough. But God never meant for us to give out of fear or pressure. He wants to move us from the clenched fist to the open hand.
"Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver."
2 Corinthians 9:7
God Doesn't Just Ask for a Cheerful Giver. He Makes One.
Look at the very next verse:
"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."
2 Corinthians 9:8
Grace doesn't stop at salvation. It keeps working, giving us both the desire and the ability to follow God. When He asks you to give, He isn't asking you to make something from nothing. He supplies the seed and the gladness.
The full message goes deeper: why the clenched fist began in Eden, what the Greek word behind "cheerful" really means, what a tea bag teaches about hard times, how a widow with one meal left watched God supply through an entire famine, and why giving is not a prosperity formula.
Sit Down With God, Not Your Bank Account
Here's my challenge for you this week. Don't let the offering plate decide what you'll give. Before next Sunday, make an appointment with God.
- Sit down with God first. Not with your bank statement, your budget, or your retirement account. Begin with Him.
- Surrender it all. Tell Him plainly: "Lord, everything I have is Yours. Make me willing. Make me a cheerful giver."
- Purpose in your heart. Decide what you'll give this month, including to our mission partners in Spain, Poland, the Dominican Republic, and New Zealand.
- Then give it gladly. Settle it with God, and let His work in you be joy.
God never held back from you. So open your hand. His hand has been open all along.