Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift! 2 Corinthians 9:15
“Paul’s theology ends in doxology, a doxology that he himself speaks on behalf of the Corinthians, the Jerusalem Christians, and all who are involved in the collection. All of them fade into the background. Thanksgiving belongs to the one true Giver alone. Again, he uses the term charis, his thanksgiving is implicitly nothing other than the receipt of the charis, the grace and giving of God…
But what is the gift that Paul has in mind? We know it’s contours. It involves God’s self-giving in Christ, the wonder of His taking upon Himself our poverty, sin, and guilt; the wonder in which He has made us rich. It entails Christ’s grace, which not only meets our every need but also elevates us to share in the divine giving.
It includes God’s creation of true community in which the reality of giving is present. We cannot go further than a mere outline of the dimensions of this gift. To attempt to define the gift that Paul names, to pin down and describe it without reserve, would be to violate his intentional silence. He himself names it merely as a “gift,” leaving any further definition aside.
The story of God’s gift of Himself for our salvation cannot finally be told in full. It is unspeakably wonderful. Yet precisely because it is unspeakably wonderful, it must be spoken and retold again and again. If we could narrate it and tell it in full, we would cease speaking it. But it can never be exhausted, never fully explored, never fully explained or defined. It is to issue ever afresh in thanksgiving, praise and song — and giving, not only with the Corinthians, but also with us.”
Mark A. Seifrid in The Second Letter to the Corinthians (PNTC; Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2014) 367.
To grow in gratitude and generosity, take time to reflect and thank God for the unspeakably wonderful gift of Christ today. Tell someone about your experience with gratitude. Ask God how you should extend His grace and generosity to others today.
What are you waiting for? God’s gracious giving came to you on the way to someone else. And don’t seek or expect thanks in return. “Thanksgiving belongs to the one true Giver alone.” You are not the giver, only the channel of generosity from the unspeakably wonderful Giver.