Tuesday: Planning
Daily Lesson for Tuesday 8th of September 2026
Read 2 Corinthians 9:7. What does this passage say about the act of offering?
God’s decision to save the world took place even before the world fell into sin. Christ’s coming to die for us was part of an ancient plan (Revelation 13:8). God was not caught by surprise. He had made plans to give Himself through Jesus. In 2 Corinthians 8:1-24 and 9, planning is an essential theological principle that concerns the act of giving. This can be seen in at least two ways:
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First, planning involves previous decision. Paul says that “each of you should give what you have decided in your heart” (2 Corinthians 9:7, NIV). The Greek word translated as “decided” is the verb proaireō. This verb is a compound form. The particle pro means “beforehand” or “in advance,” and aireō means in this context “to decide.” Thus, proaireō points to a decision made beforehand. Also, by starting his statement with “each of you,” Paul indicates that the given amount will not be the same for everyone. His point was simply that whatever people decide to give, they should do it with careful reflection. They should give what they believe is the right amount for them to give.
Second, planning involves the principle of proportionality. Paul reports that the Macedonians “gave according to their means” (2 Corinthians 8:3, ESV). Next, he applies this principle of proportionality to the Corinthians, as well. Encouraging them to finish the task that they had already committed to, he urges them to complete that project by using the resources that they possess (2 Corinthians 8:11). He concludes this thought by saying that the offering is given “according to what a person has, not according to what he does not have” (2 Corinthians 8:12, ESV). Whereas the Bible defines the proportionality of the tithes, namely, 10 percent, the same does not apply to the offerings. “Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart” (2 Corinthians 9:7, NIV) by applying the principle of proportionality. In other words, each one decides which proportion of earnings that he or she will give as an offering. Each one is supposed to give in proportion to what one has. This cannot be done without planning.
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How faithful are you with tithes and offerings, no matter how rich or poor you are? What excuses do you use to hold back from giving when you know that you can do more? |
In our area of the world, there has been a movement away from cash offerings to electronic giving. For me it has been beneficial because I simply set up a scheduled direct debit and my tithe and offering is transferred. Once it is set up, I hardly have to think about it. While the local church still takes up a cash collection, the greater part of the offering is given electronically. It is great for systematic giving, but it lacks some of the sense of giving when you put cash in the collection. (I have not used cash for shopping for a long time either. I had to get some cash for something the other day, and the cashier gave me a suspicious smile!)
Perhaps one of the side effects of automatic offering deductions is that it provides us with the opportunity to turn our attention to other less automated forms of giving. I am, of course, referring to our time and our attention. These areas are just as important as financial giving and require a responsive and prepared heart.
I take bird photographs, as you know, and people often say to me that I am very lucky to get some of the bird photographs. The truth of the matter is that I go out every day where the birds are and take as many photographs as I can. I am lucky but I put myself in a position where I am likely to get lucky. The more often I go out among the birds, the lucker I get.
Giving people time and attention does not happen if we are sitting at home reading and studying. When we go where people are we will get the opportunity for sharing. Look back over the examples that so many people have written this week. Most of them involve getting out among people. The Gospel commission says, “Go into all the world”.
There is no record of Jesus giving a financial offering, but the Gospels are full of stories of Jesus making time to talk to people and giving them attention. We should not ignore financial offerings, but if we neglect the generous offering of our time and attention, we have not really understood the true meaning of stewardship.
“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.” (2 Cor. 9:7, NIV)
What does this Bible text really mean? Is generosity defined entirely by what each person decides in his/her heart? Giving or sharing is a measure of the condition of the heart. Paul is envisioning a people whose hearts have been transformed. If we surrender our hearts first to God, giving becomes a spontaneous response. It does not matter how meticulously we plan if our hearts are not right. Planning will never make a mean/stingy heart generous. In fact, it will perpetuate more meanness. I am wondering how much planning the widow who gave everything she had to live on did (Mark 12:41-44). Giving and sharing has more to do with faith than planning, in my view.
Another aspect worth reflecting on is: what does it mean, “God loves a cheerful giver”? Does God not care how much we give as long as we give cheerfully? God cares how much we give. Just think of a person who has £200,000 and gives £10 cheerfully when a fellow believer is in serious need. Can the person go away cheerfully and say, at least I gave £10? Was his giving appropriate to what he has and the need at hand? This is why Paul gave the “principle of proportionality”. Paul is telling us to give in proportion to how much God has provided/blessed. This principle allows everyone an opportunity to participate in giving.
The master plan we can ever make is to seek the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all other plans will fall in place.
The best way to allow Satan to destroy one’s dreams is to do nothing. When people live without a plan, clear goals, or intentional action, they gradually drift away from their desired destination. Just in line with the second law of thermodynamics which states that things tend to naturally move towards disorder and decay unless energy is deliberately applied to them. Which is also true in mission which can decline without a clear continuous plan. Paul gives a reminder by saying , “Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.” 2 Corinthians 4:16 (NIV). This means that planning is more than just completing a requirement but rather an intentional act of preparing that gives us clear direction by helping us reach mission goals. So Paul expects christ followers to plan purposefully, act consistently, and refuse to drift. “Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity.” — Ephesians 5:15–16. He further points out and encourages purposeful lives which goes more than just drifting through life, people of God must use time wisely, and to take deliberate action toward God’s purpose. In Philippians 3:13–14,Paul encourages christians …“Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal…” a real powerful emphasis of planning and having clear goals, taking consistent actions, and refusing to drift or remain stagnant.
Hi people
Yes the giving of ourselves to God and mankind leads to spontaneous giving without any thought of recompense.
Jerry d Thomas…messiah booklet, Pacific Press uses the following illustration to support this…
The women who had been at the cross made their way to the tomb to place oils and fragrances on the
saviour’s body. They did not think about his rising from the dead. They had forgotten his words…I will see you again…John 16:22 new century version.
The women expended their time, money and love while undergoing grief, poverty and bitter disappointment.
Reneanne Anderson
Planning is good and should be encouraged..I believe in my neck of the woods its call, “Systematic giving”
But what about spontaneous giving? The fella who approaches at the stop light and ask you for money, the child who waits outside the cash machine and approach you the second you step out?
Should we walk with a bit of cash to meet these needs??
Worship is an act of giving glory to God because of what he has done for us. His sacrifice in seeking to save us from the penalty of sin is his ultimate gift to us.
1 Corinthians 10:31 says, “Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” Worship is thus, giving glory to God in everything we do. This is supported in Colossians 3:23 which says, “And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men.”
In our lesson for today, we studied about giving our gifts to God. In some churches, some people only give of their talents if they receive a financial for them. Examples of these are seen with some musicians who will only perform if they are paid what they consider a proper wage. Now, if I do this, am I leaving home to go to church on sabbath to worship or to work.
To my way of thinking, Church Leaders should assist the membership in this act of giving.
It is clear; 10 percent of Income is Tithe. Now comes the question- how much do I give towards Offerings. I am a single person and I confess that the answer to that question is not “a walk in the park”. I could only imagine how challenging that question must be to families that consist of children still attending school.
Planned, intelligent giving must involve budgeting. And whilst I do not expect the Pastor to be involved in the nitty gritty of your finances; at least, especially for some of us, some form of financial guidance in the art of budgeting would definitely place us in an “understood position” whereby we could give more in offerings to the Cause of God.
One of my fellow commentators made the remark that to him, giving to the cause of God is more a matter of faith than planning. To my mind there is some truth to that statement; especially when the Spirit may move upon one’s heart to give in a special manner on certain times. However generally speaking, the act of giving to God should be a loving, sober, pre-meditated , intelligent act of generosity.
Church Leaders and those trained in the field of Buisness should assist the brethren in the art of financial management and budgeting. This would greatly assist some of us to give consistently more to the cause of God.
Dear Lord Jesus, help us so to do.
May I suggest that God’s math is different from human math? Thus, I’m not sure that “those trained in the field of business” would be much help in planning our offerings. They may, however, be a big help in budgeting what’s left after returning tithe and giving offerings.
While we were attending Andrews University in the 1960’s, there was a money-raising campaign for the beautiful Andrews University Church. One of the pastors visited us and suggested that we plan on giving a “second tithe” on top of our tithe as offering, as he and his wife had done for many years. We adopted that plan and were showered with blessings – especially when we upped the offerings to 15% as part of a church plant. (We were students and had to earn our own way! My husband was doing building contracting to earn money.)
We have stuck with the tithe plus 10% for offerings for the 60 or so years since then, and we may have looked poor at times (and may still look poor), but we have never lacked for necessities. I remember times when I didn’t dare check the math, because I couldn’t figure out why/how we had enough money to cover expenses. God’s math is not our math!
The genius of the plan of “systematic giving” is that it is percentage based. The person making $50,000/month, would give $10,000 in tithes and offerings/month. The person making $2,000 a month would give $400 in offerings/month. Perhaps it is easier for the high-salaried person to give $10,000/month than the poor wage earner to give $400. I wouldn’t know, because we’ve never been in that position. 😊
Another thing: When we give “more than we can afford,” we give the Lord opportunity to perform miracles that He would not otherwise do.
That said, there are some situations where people may truly not be in a position to do more than return tithe, and we should not try to make them feel obligated. But the tithe is the Lord’s, and not returning it is theft. No one is excempt, and everyone can claim the blessings God promised. When someone “cannot afford to give tithe,” is exactly the time that person cannot afford NOT to return tithe. In such extreme financial situations, we need God to open the windows of heaven more than ever!
As the story goes, the Grahams were visiting a church. When the collection plate came around, Billy Graham reached into his pocket to pull out a bill for the collection plate. He intended to grab a smaller bill (often cited as a $5 or $10 bill), but accidentally pulled out and dropped a much larger bill (a $20 or $50 bill) onto the plate instead. (This was back when $20 or $50 was worth significantly more than today.) Realizing his mistake, the interaction usually plays out in one of two ways depending on the retelling:The “Hand Slap” Version: Realizing he dropped the wrong bill, Billy reached back toward the collection plate to swap it out. Ruth promptly slapped his hand away. When he whispered, “Honey, I meant to give ten,” Ruth replied, “In God’s eyes, it was ten. God looks at the heart.” The “Heavenly Reward” Version: Billy turned to Ruth and whispered, “Well, at least I will get a reward in Heaven for giving fifty dollars.” Ruth quickly corrected him, saying, “No, you are going to get a reward for five dollars, because that is all you meant to give.”
This anecdotal story while humorous reveals truths about giving. Indeed God looks at the heart and sees the motive more than the amount.
In the days of the Jerusalem Temple, wealthy people would give many coins to make much sound as it fell down the collection funnel so as to impress the people around. Then comes a poor widow who gives her simple two mite offering, not wanting or expecting anyone to notice, however, Jesus noticed and commended her giving as greater than everyone else’s giving because she gave out of her poverty while the others gave out of their abundance or surplus. She gave from her heart not for show.
We need to check our motives for giving and how we give. Do we give begrudgingly, or cheerfully? How did God give Jesus? Did Jesus reluctantly come to redeem mankind? No! The plan of salvation was established before the need. It wasn’t reactionary. “Jesus gave it all, all to him I owe…” We give because God first gave. And when God gave he poured out the treasury of heaven because that’s how much he loves humanity. How deep is our love for Christ?
Thoughts to ponder.
Praise God, Bro. Heischberg. On point!
Giving back to God is something very personal. He openly asks for 10%, but anything more than that is considered personal. One thing is for sure: God does not need my money. I’m the one who needs to realize that money is something I’m given as a result of God’s blessings. Thus, I give from what I already received.
In reading today’s lesson the last question carries an assumption of wrong. It asked this, “What excuses do you use to hold back from giving when you know that you can do more?” An excuse is negative, hold back is negative, can do more feels like an obligation. All that seems to undo the very point of the main text in 2 Corinthians 9:7, that is, being a cheerful giver. A question like, “What keeps you from giving more when it appears you can’t?” This assumes I want to give but things seem to keep me from doing what I want. That seems more in line with the opening text.
First the disclaimer – I have always returned a faithful tithe, even as a child. That was drilled into me from the beginning by my father. It was something non-negotiable for him and it is for me too – to this day, I calculate my tithe and offerings before I pay any bills.
However, it bothered me that the lesson took II Corinthians 9:7 and completely ignored the part about not giving under compulsion. That was followed by the final question that tried to “guilt” us into giving more. I don’t like that at all. My guess is that the vast majority of people studying the Sabbath School lesson are faithful in tithes and offerings and very generous. Certainly many in the church are not faithful. Just look at your church’s tithe as compared to membership and it’s easy to know that. But in most cases spiritual and financial faithfulness go together. I wish the authors would remember that and not hammer on people who may even be giving more than they can. The people who need the message are likely not reading the lesson or even attending Sabbath School.
Ultimately offerings are about love. The way to increase offerings is to motivate people to draw closer to Jesus. It will take care of itself in the vast majority of situations. Beyond that, we don’t know each situation or reason for giving or not. It is between each person and God.
This lesson teaches that offering should be planned. 2 Corinthians 9:7 says we should give what we have “decided in our heart beforehand” — not randomly, and the amount will differ for each person. We should also give proportionally, according to what we have (2 Cor 8:3, 12). Unlike tithe which is 10%, offering has no fixed rate; we prayerfully choose our own proportion, just as God planned our salvation in Jesus even before sin entered.