each according as he is purposed in his heart; not grievingly, or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver.
Paul is writing to the Corinthians about a collection for poor believers, and he tells them how to give: not under pressure, but by a decision each person makes in his own heart. So the verse answers two questions — who fixes the amount, and what God looks at when the gift comes.
The decision belongs to the giver
No apostle and no church fixes the amount. Each giver settles it beforehand, in private, and the way he gives matters more than the sum.
God does not despise what is given to the poor saints; but the spirit of giving is far more important than the gift. So the apostle follows up the saying he had just applied: each one gives just as he has decided beforehand in his heart, not out of sorrow or out of necessity. For God loves a cheerful giver… To grudge and grieve over a gift is unworthy of one of His saints. To demand it is no less unworthy of His servant.
No pressure applied
Paul practised what he wrote. He even planned the timing of the collection with this in mind.
He told them that each one should give "as he has decided in his heart." He also took care to send some brothers ahead of his own arrival, to collect what they had planned to give. That way their gift would be ready as a willing blessing, not as something squeezed out of them… He did not want them to give under pressure — not in appearance, and not in fact. He had no wish to force out unwilling gifts, or to work them up into a generosity beyond the faith and grace they had, which they might later regret.
Not a demand but a privilege
Rule out sorrow and compulsion, and giving stops being a duty.
Neither sorrow nor constraint must have any place here. God is the centre and the final aim of all true kindness. As He has given, let each true child of His give. Believers should see giving not as a necessity, but as a privilege. For giving is God's own delight. We know Him only by His indescribable gift, and His heart is always toward those who copy Him in His ways. In a time of pure grace, no one is obliged to give, except by the sweet compulsion of His love. There are no task-masters in the house of God.
The word "cheerful"
The Greek word behind "cheerful" is the root of an English word we still use.
Note the joy we have here: the very opposite of giving grudgingly or of necessity. It reminds us of 2 Cor. 9:7, "God loves a cheerful giver." The word translated 'cheerful' is hilaros, and from it we get our word 'hilarious.' But of course it carries none of the bad sense that word has picked up in our day.
What God is weighing
Someone is watching every gift.
It is worth thinking about this every time we are asked to give to the Lord's cause. Remember, as the box or the basket comes into my hand, that "Jesus is sitting opposite the treasury." His holy eye rests, not on the purse, but on the heart. He weighs, not the amount, but the motive. If the heart is right, the amount will be right, according to His judgment. Where the heart beats true to His person, the hand will be open to His cause.
Giving in God's own style
Cheerful giving copies God's own character. And it grows from the state of the heart, not from effort.
Every man will purpose in his heart according to the state of his heart. If our hearts are right, and enlarged by living in the love of God, we shall give generously and cheerfully too. We shall give in the style of God Himself; and God loves those who are like Himself.
Summary
- Heart — the giver settles the sum inside, "as he has decided in his heart," before any basket comes round; the spirit of the gift matters more to God than its size.
- Free — two things spoil a gift: grief at parting with it, and pressure from outside. Paul collected the money in advance so that no one would feel pushed.
- Privilege — giving is not a bill to pay. There are no task-masters in God's house; the only compulsion is His love.
- Joy — the word for "cheerful" is hilaros, the root of our word "hilarious." Giving is meant to be glad, the very opposite of grudging.
- Likeness — a heart enlarged by God's love gives in God's own style, and God loves those who are like Himself.