“So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver.” (1 Cor. 9:7)

How many of you reading that verse winced just a little … or maybe a lot?  It’s those last two words, isn’t it?  “Cheerful giver.”  They almost seem to expect too much commitment to the process. Trust me, I am not throwing any stones here – there have been many times over the years that I played with this phrase like the lawyer in Luke 10 who toyed with the idea of just who is a neighbor?  You know, how cheerful does cheerful need to be, really?