Willing to Give

When LeAnn and I moved to Waverly, we were invited to join the W-SR Booster Club as the "Girls Cross Country Representatives" because our oldest daughter decided to try out a new sport. (And, more accurately, because they were desperate.) We eagerly said "yes" because we saw this as an opportunity to get to know people in our new community.

One of our duties as Booster Club reps was to schedule parents of cross country athletes to work at the concession stand in the offseason.

Some parents acted as though they’d rather have multiple teeth pulled without anesthesia than volunteer for a two-hour shift. Thankfully, the majority of parents gave us a willing "yes" to selling candy and popcorn. (We really liked those people! They made our lives much easier.)

A Willing Heart

So far, in our 7 Qualities of a Giver series, we’ve been looking at the giving heart of the Macedonian churches as described in 2 Corinthians 8:1-5. We’ve seen how their generosity was sacrificial, which required them to be faith-filled. Yet this extravagant generosity should also be joy-filled. But Paul ties another "giver" quality to joy when he wrote this...

“For [the Macedonians] gave according to their means, as I can testify, and beyond their means, of their own accord…” (2 Corinthians 8:3, ESV, emphasis mine)

That final phrase—“of their own accord”—was the heart of the parents willing to volunteer in a concession stand and is the heart of this week’s fourth quality of a giver: Willingness.

Not Coerced or Compelled

If you’ve ever watched a late-night infomercial or sat through a high-pressure fundraiser, you’ve probably experienced the kind of giving that’s coerced. Emotional manipulation, guilt tactics, or flashy presentations are used to push people into donating.

But the giving of the Macedonians was nothing like that. Paul makes it crystal clear: No one forced them to give. Their generosity was not the result of pressure or slick persuasion. It flowed out of their own volition.

That may not seem all that remarkable—until you remember the context: they were in “extreme poverty” (v. 2)! The fact that they gave at all is astounding. But the fact that they wanted to give, even in the midst of suffering, makes their generosity all the more inspiring.

Where Willingness Comes From

So how did this happen? What would make people living in such hardship want to give away what little they had?

The answer is found back in verse 1:

“We want you to know, brothers, about the grace of God that has been given among the churches of Macedonia…” (2 Corinthians 8:1, ESV, emphasis mine).

It was God’s grace working in the hearts of the Jesus-followers in the Macedonian churches. Their willingness didn’t come from religious duty; it came from an internal transformation by the grace of God. They had encountered the love and generosity of Jesus... and it changed them. They weren’t responding to rules — they were responding to a relationship.

That is why rather than taking time to implore you to "give willingly," I encourage you to connect with Christ. Because as you worship Him, you can't help but see His willing generosity through the cross, and it creates space for the Holy Spirit to continue His transformative work on your character.

So if you find yourself reluctant to give, simply ask God to change your heart and perspective. Because the more willing you are to give, the more likely your giving will be joy-filled!