What Is a Cheerful Giver? A Look at 2 Corinthians 9
Pastor Keith Roberson opened with a good old-fashioned confession. He was thirty years old before he could get his head and his heart around a truth we hear every Christmas season: it is better to give than to receive. And for thirty years, his honest response was — I don’t get it. I like getting. His parents didn’t always have a lot growing up, but at Christmas they did it up, and he remembers it. He liked the gadgets and the techy stuff. Sweet-hearted people would tell him it’s just so much better to give, and he’d think, I don’t get it. I’m just being honest.
To make matters worse, that phrase wasn’t coined by a greeting card company. The Apostle Paul, speaking to the elders at Ephesus, reminded them of the Lord’s own words: it is more blessed to give than to receive (Acts 20:35). These are the words of Jesus. So what changed at thirty? It wasn’t that Keith finally developed the spiritual maturity to get over himself. At thirty, he became a dad.
In a message from the THEREFORE series called Happy Sacrifice, Pastor Keith walked through Hebrews 13, 2 Corinthians 9, and Mark 12 to answer a question almost nobody enjoys hearing from a pulpit — and to answer it in a way that sets people free instead of squeezing them: what is a cheerful giver, and how do you actually become one?
What this sermon is about
The thesis runs against almost everything people have experienced in church around the topic of giving. Generosity is not about dollar amounts, percentages, or pressure. Generosity is a heart response — a glad, happy sacrifice deeply rooted in gratitude — that gets released in you when you finally capture the heart of the Father who gave everything for you.
If you’ve ever been shamed, strong-armed, or manipulated into giving, this message is for you. And if the whole subject makes you flinch, that’s exactly the wound this sermon goes after.
When you capture the heart of the Father
Here’s what happened when Keith became a dad. He had just received the greatest gift he was ever going to get (and he and his wife loved it so much they did it three more times). Something shifted inside him. All he cared about was being able to provide for his kids, care for them, give them what they needed. The dollars he would have liked to spend on himself stopped mattering. Sacrifice stopped feeling like sacrifice — he was glad to do it.
And in that shift, he says, something supernatural took place: he started to capture the heart of the Father.
“You could do all the Bible study, but until it goes from here to here, it’s just knowledge. I was operating in some knowledge about what God is like, but I didn’t really taste it until I became a father.” — Pastor Keith Roberson
He’s quick to add that you don’t have to have children to get this. He just was, in his words, thick-headed enough that it took the experience. Now when his kids ask what he wants for Christmas, he says he just wants their hugs and kisses — and they tell him that’s so dumb, what do you actually want — but he means it. What he has with them trumps getting things.
That’s the doorway into the whole sermon. When you see a Father who gave it all, and a Son who laid down His life so that we could be cared for, seen, and have plenty in Him, the old math flips. He didn’t just give us toys. He gave us life, glory, meaning, purpose, and hope.
“Generosity is a heart response — a glad, happy sacrifice that is deeply rooted in gratitude.” — Pastor Keith Roberson
It’s more blessed to give than to receive takes on a whole new meaning when the heart of the giver has been changed from the inside out.
Therefore: we give because He gave
The writer of Hebrews builds the case in chapter 13 — and like every “therefore” in this series, the command only makes sense because of what comes before it.
Hebrews 13:12-16 — “So Jesus also suffered outside the gate in order to sanctify the people through his own blood. Therefore let us go to him outside the camp and bear the reproach he endured. For here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come. Through him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God… Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God.”
Jesus was taken outside the city gates, put on Golgotha, and gave up His life as a sacrifice. Therefore — let us identify with this King who gave so lavishly, so fully, that even suffering for Him is worth it. Even if it brings reproach. Even if others don’t understand why your life and your family and your values look different than the entire world.
Why can we live that way? Pastor Keith pointed to verse 14: because you and I are not home. The temptation he wrestled with for thirty years — get the most you can out of this life, acquire enough stuff and you’ll be okay — collapses when you realize you’re here for an hour. The world says acquire, acquire, acquire. The Father says we share, we give, we pour out, because that’s what He did for us.
“The Father sacrificed his Son. He gave it all so that we could have. Therefore we can give — we can be generous, even sacrificially — because we already have it all.” — Pastor Keith Roberson
When you’re secure because Dad has your back, you can live open-handed. That’s the “therefore” of meeting the goodness of the Father.
Never give from fear, shame, or compulsion
Then the sermon turned to the passage that has been misused on more congregations than nearly any other — and Pastor Keith handled it the opposite way.
Around AD 44-48, a massive famine hit Judea, and the believers in Jerusalem were hit hardest. Many had been disowned by their families for their faith, couldn’t get jobs, had been ostracized from their entire communities because they would not let go of their trust in the risen King. So Paul invited the church in Corinth — across the sea in Greece — to be generous toward believers in a completely different country.
2 Corinthians 9:7-8 — “Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work.”
Pastor Keith slowed down on every word of that verse. Don’t give reluctantly — that’s fear-based giving, the anxious math of “how do I know if I have enough?” Don’t give under compulsion — the manipulation of “if you don’t do it, who will? Have you done your part yet?” Don’t give to get into the good graces of God, and don’t give because somebody shamed you into it.
“If you give because you’re trying to get in the good graces of God, if you give because someone shamed you into it — I just pastorally release you from having to give. Don’t do it.” — Pastor Keith Roberson
What’s amazing, he pointed out, is that God isn’t talking about dollars in this passage at all. He’s talking about a heart. A heart that is free to give with gladness because it got touched by the Father. That’s what God loves. Not the size of the check — the freedom of the giver.
Two copper coins and a heart that says “you have it all”
So if generosity isn’t about amounts, what is it about? Jesus answered that in the temple.
Mark 12:41-44 — “And he sat down opposite the treasury and watched the people putting money into the offering box. Many rich people put in large sums. And a poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which make a penny. And he called his disciples to him and said to them, ‘Truly, I say to you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the offering box. For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on.’”
Jesus wasn’t angry at the people giving large sums — wealthy, generous people actually upheld His ministry. He was pointing at a heart. A heart willing to say, “You have my all,” even when the all is two pennies. The amounts are irrelevant. The heart is everything.
“All generosity is sacrificial — all of it. It’s not about the amount or the size of the gift. It is about the heart.” — Pastor Keith Roberson
That’s also how Pastor Keith framed the tithe, and he was emphatic about it. Tithe just means tenth, and bringing the first ten percent was a law in the Old Testament — but it is no longer a law. It’s a principle: God, I trust You, and You get the first fruit of my life. Not because of pestilence-and-frogs preaching, not compulsion, not manipulation. He pointed to Malachi 3:10 — “Bring the full tithe into the storehouse… and put me to the test, says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need” — the only place in all of Scripture, to the best of his understanding, where God says test me. And he added that he’s not preaching something he doesn’t do: he has tithed since his first job at Foot Locker at fifteen, and he’s convinced you can live on 90% better than you can on 100%.
But even then, the percentages aren’t the point. If you can only do 7%, you’re not in trouble. Sometimes generosity isn’t dollars at all — it’s a plate of cookies, or your time, or just your ear. And when giving does flow through the church, it becomes care for each other: a free VBS every summer, hundreds of boxes sent overseas to kids, food for orphans in Haiti, care for widows, help for the needy in Williamson County, camp scholarships for students. Your one penny matters as much as anyone’s large gift, because God already owns it all anyway. He’s after the heart that’s glad to give it.
What this means for your week in Franklin
If you take this sermon seriously, four things change about this week.
- Run the diagnostic, not the math. The question isn’t “how much should I give?” It’s “is my heart free?” If the thought of giving produces fear, shame, or resentment, start there — ask the Father to touch the wound before you touch the wallet.
- Stop any giving that’s driven by manipulation. Pastor Keith said it plainly: if you give reluctantly, out of compulsion, or because somebody shamed you into it — stop. God doesn’t want fear-based giving, and being released from it is the first step toward giving gladly.
- Practice one act of “happy sacrifice” this week. Not a check — a cost. Buy the coffee, give the hour, sit with somebody and just listen. All generosity is sacrificial, and gladness in small sacrifices retrains the heart.
- If you’re the one in need, bring it to the Father. Maybe you’re struggling financially and the whole topic stings. Open your hands and tell Him: “I don’t know how I’m going to do Christmas.” There’s no shame in need — and no manipulation in His invitation. He’s a good Father you can test.
Watch the full message
The full sermon — “Happy Sacrifice” from the THEREFORE series — is in the video above. We post a new message every Sunday from New River Church in Franklin, TN. Browse our message library for more from the THEREFORE series and other recent teaching.
Coming Sunday at New River Church in Franklin, TN
If this message resonated and you’d like to experience worship and community in person, we’d love to have you with us. New River Church meets Sundays at 9:00 AM and 10:45 AM at 1153 Lewisburg Pike in Franklin, TN 37064 — just minutes from downtown Franklin and easy to reach from across Williamson County, Brentwood, and Spring Hill.
You don’t need to dress up. You don’t need a good voice. You don’t need to know much about church or the Bible to come. We’re a community of ordinary people walking through ordinary life, trying to do it together with Jesus at the center. Whether you’ve been a Christian for forty years or you’ve never set foot in a church, you are welcome here.
If you’re new to the area or new to faith, our First Time Guest page walks through everything you need to know before your first visit: parking, what to expect on Sunday morning, what your kids will experience in River Kids, and how to find us when you arrive.
If you’re looking for deeper community beyond Sunday morning, our Community Groups meet across Franklin and the surrounding area throughout the week. Groups are where Sunday morning faith becomes Tuesday afternoon real life.
Whatever you’re carrying right now, you don’t have to carry it alone. There’s a place for you at New River Church in Franklin, Tennessee. Come as you are.
Watch more sermons: newriverfranklin.com/messages Plan your visit: newriverfranklin.com/firsttimeguest Find a group: newriverfranklin.com/groups
📍 New River Church | 1153 Lewisburg Pike, Franklin, TN 37064 | Sundays 9:00 AM & 10:45 AM
