“Charles Spurgeon and his wife, according to a story in the Chaplain magazine, would sell, but refused to give away, the eggs their chickens laid. Even close relatives were told, “You may have them if you pay for them.” As a result some people labeled the Spurgeons greedy and grasping.

They accepted the criticisms without defending themselves, and only after Mrs. Spurgeon died was the full story revealed. All the profits from the sale of eggs went to support two elderly widows. Because the Spurgeons where unwilling to let their left hand know what the right hand was doing (Matthew 6:3), they endured the attacks in silence.”

This is a story that is repeated, probably everyday and without fanfare. Strangers….unknown heroes…good Samaritans…people who just because all Christ has done for them, do the same for other, and we never would know.

In (2 Corinthians 9:7), it is shared, “So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver”, though the Revised Standard Version has more to point, “not reluctantly or under compulsion.”

Christians give and do what they do, not of compulsion, but from a natural desire that has taken root in their heart, from all that Christ has done for them and dwells within them.

Roy Davison of The Old Paths shared an insightful breakdown of giving:

“Let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver” (2 Corinthians 9:7).

1. No compulsion is to be used in the church of Christ.
2. God wants us to give willingly through love. We give cheerfully because God has given us so much.
3. God wants us to give liberally, according to our ability, but first of all He wants us to give ourselves to Him.
4. God will bless us if we share what we have with others.
5. God wants us to work so we can give and lay up treasure in heaven. We give both personally and through the church. ¹

When we see the world as Christ sees the world, there is a recognition without compulsion of the need that is out there in the world, not just physically but emotionally and spiritually.

Its a recognition of the hunger physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually and the recognition of the need for humanity on all levels.

As the Matthew Henry Commentary shares,
“Persons sometimes will give merely to satisfy the importunity of those who ask their charity, and what they give is in a manner squeezed or forced from them, and this unwillingness spoils all they do.

We ought to give more freely than the modesty of some necessitous persons will allow them to ask: we should not only deal out bread, but draw out our souls to the hungry, Isa. 58:10.

We should give liberally, with an open hand, and cheerfully, with an open countenance, being glad we have ability and an opportunity to be charitable.”

It’s not about what’s good for us and it goes back to the story of the widow.
“21 And He looked up and saw the rich putting their gifts into the treasury, ² and He saw also a certain poor widow putting in two mites. ³ So He said, “Truly I say to you that this poor widow has put in more than all; ⁴ for all these out of their abundance have put in offerings for God,^[a] but she out of her poverty put in all the livelihood that she had.” ( Luke 21:1-4 NKJV)

As a kid’s site shared, “Real faith is not a matter of simply believing in and loving Jesus. It involves turning from old ways that go against God’s commands and starting a new life. Real faith acts to make things right again.“ ²

The way God works, its not about our accomplishments….we could be like Nicodemus, but it wouldn’t matter, what does matter, is in what we do to the best that we possible can but not about fanfare.

There are many whose acts may never be known, whose names are never spoken or go down in history, but that’s not what is important to them. It’s not about people, but as Galatians 1:10 (NKJV) would share, “¹⁰ For do I now persuade men, or God? Or do I seek to please men? For if I still pleased men, I would not be a bondservant of Christ.”

What is done is done because and for Christ and out of the desire in the heart, knowing…others may never know or care, and that’s not what matters, because what does matter, is that it is all done for the name and glory of our Father in Heaven.

Interested in joining with this week’s,”In Other Words Tuesday” or just want to find out more? Anyone can participate! Drop by, “In Other Words Tuesday” and find out more here.

© 2012, Sunflower Faith. All rights reserved.

Sunflower Faith is a quiet, sometimes silly, sometimes sarcastic, sometimes serious, follower of Christ sharing words of devotion, encouragement and hope that is always about our Father in Heaven. So grab a cup of coffee and join Sunflower Faith in words of growth, hope and more all in the spirit of 2 Peter 1:5-8.

Sunflower Faith

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