Scripture
2 Corinthians 9:7-“Each one must do just as he has purposed in his heart, not grudgingly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver."
Observation
It’s Masters week and even casual golf fans recognize this tournament as one of Golf’s premier events, with the winner donning the coveted green jacket. Now, the last time the Masters was played in front of an audience, Tiger Woods reclaimed his green jacket and rose again to the pinnacle of golf’s greatest ever. While I recall the feelings of joy and redemption as Tiger hit birdie after birdie to claim the crown, I also remember a quote of his when asked about what drives him to succeed. To paraphrase he said, “It’s not so much that I enjoy winning but rather, I hate losing”. While his success on the golf course has surpassed anyone of his contemporaries, he has it backward. Instead of finding joy in winning he instead finds he cheers not losing.
Paul writes that God loves a cheerful giver. When I’m completely honest about it, my worldview sometimes looks a lot like Tiger’s. When I evaluate the few successes I attribute some to a fear of failure as my main motivation. While the end victory does result in joy and cheer, the road there is often filled with the fear that I will not live up to the expectation. While the Glory is God’s, the real story tells a tale of going all in, counting none of the cost, in order that success is attained. While I believe God has purposed every action and direction in my heart, too often mission is accomplished through much sweat and tears and not enough cheer and joy.
Application
Instead of continuing on this path of cheerless giving and accomplishment, instead, I choose joy, I choose cheer. Cheer in the struggle to make things succeed...cause God is worthy of our very best. I don’t really skew that idea, but instead, I’ve often chosen to wallow in the depths of the struggle instead of keeping my eyes upon the victory.
Cheer in the failure...cause God works all things for His purpose. As the song goes, “Your love never fails...You make all things work together for my good.” Success doesn’t always mean good. Sometimes failure, when put into the larger context of God’s plan, is good.
Cheer in the victory...and thanks be to God! So many promises in the Bible about how God wants us to win, wills us to win, causes us to win. Yes, a lot of times the road to victory is a challenging one. Things don’t go as planned. Technology fails. Plans fail. I fail. But instead of keeping account of all the bumps in the road, I need to instead keep my eyes, my mind, and my heart set on the One who conquered all. When I do so, the only thing that matters at the end of the day is that Jesus loves me and I love Him right back...and there’s tons of joy and cheer in that simplicity.
Prayer
Jesus, build my bank account of cheerfulness to bankrupt my complaining! My heart rests on Your promises, Your greatness. You’ve never lost a battle and You never will!
