Cheerful Liver
Listen for the five-minute Cheerful Liver audio program from Coach’s Corner.
2 Corinthians 9:7 says:
Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.
My question of you today is, “Are you a cheerful “liver”?
Paul tells us that God delights in a cheerful giver. When I think of this passage about giving, I usually think about the financial giving. But from time to time I also think about other gifts that God wants me to give.
God has given all of us amazing gifts:
- financial gifts
- spiritual gifts
- natural talents
- special relationships that bless us
God wants us to use all of these gifts, not just our financial gifts, in order to give to others. It’s the original form of regifting. God gives us amazing gifts, and we in turn give of those gifts to others.
I believe that the greatest gift God gives us is life itself and the free will to live it however we choose. We didn’t do anything to deserve this gift of life. God did it all, with a little help from our parents, of course.
Then beyond that, because God knows that the world is broken and my life will also be broken, God gave his son to reconcile me to him. Another amazing gift!
And there’s more! After life itself and salvation for eternal life, God invites us to join him in his mission of bringing this broken world back into a full relationship with him: the reconciliation of the entire earth back to God.
What an amazing offer; to work for—no, to work with—the creator of the universe in his mission. And all we have to do is give our life—this life that was given to us with no strings attached—back to him.
When it comes to our life—our living—Jesus tells us we must die to ourselves as he did and give our entire life to God. Yes our hearts, our minds, our souls, our everything! And like a financial tithe, I suspect this giving is to be done cheerfully, not begrudgingly.
We are to be a cheerful liver.
As a Christian Leader this is really important. The world won’t say to leaders, “die to yourself and be the servant to those who follow you.” But Jesus makes this quite clear through his words and actions. One example is when he washed the feet of his followers and told them that he came to serve them. When he did this, do you think he did it grudgingly? I think not. I think he enjoyed every moment of this act of love.
So why is this important to Christian leaders? Because this is what defines all of us as followers of Jesus. And as you’ve heard me say before, a Christian leader is first a follower.
Let me tell you about a cheerful liver I know, someone who’s using his life for God’s mission:
I have a close friend who gives away a lot of money. He and his wife have been richly blessed and they use their financial blessings to bless others…and they both do this cheerfully.
But it doesn’t end there. My friend is seventy-two years old and could easily justify just sitting back and letting his financial gifts cover his need for giving. But that’s not his way!
For a twenty-third year in a row, he will take ten middle school kids and six chaperons on a five day backpacking trip on the Appalachian Trail. And he knows that this year’s group of kids are going to do what every year’s group of kids does:
- whine about how long the van ride is to get to the trail (sixteen hours)
- whine about how hot it is and how bored they are
- cry about how much their feet hurt
- insist they can’t make it “one more step up this mountain,” let alone the two miles required to get to the next source of water.
My friend, puts up with all that whining and pushes them to keep going so they will accomplish what he knows will be a source of real confidence one day, even if they hate him for it in the moment. He is humble about this amazing gift he gives of himself each year, and I can see great joy in him when he talks about it.
So, how are you giving away your life? What regular acts of giving would someone see in your living, and would those acts of giving be done cheerfully?
Be honest with yourself. Consider making a change this week, that you would be a cheerful “liver.”
Until next time I pray that you experience God’s rich blessings.
Post by Rodger.
Image by fotochronicle.
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