Now He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness. You will be enriched in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God. 2 Corinthians 9:10-11
“God gives to us so that we can share what He gives with others, and the harvest of righteousness for those who give generously is an increasing closeness to God that expresses itself in prayer and fasting, which remind us that He alone is the source of the blessings we enjoy.”
Issiaka Coulibaly in “2 Corinthians” in Africa Bible Commentary (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2006) 1433.
Coulibaly brings up two key ideas related to this familiar verse about sharing.
Firstly, that the reward of generosity is an “increasing closeness” to God. When we give cheerfully and generously, we grow in our relationship with the God who enriches us.
Secondly, He brings out the function of prayer and fasting, which do not appear in the text, but surface in the life of the generous person. Think about it. The one who grows in increasing closeness to God lives by prayer and sets aside his or her desires in fasting even as Christ set aside His own and sacrificed so much for us.
May we, by God’s grace, each grow in increasing closeness to God and by prayer and fasting, experience daily enrichment for cheerful and joyful generosity. Amen.