I sure hope not. If they are I’m falling short of my goal to learn how God thinks and to do the things that please Him. Way short.
It’s this scripture that had me thinking about it. “Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly , or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver.” 2 Corinthian 9:7 (King James Authorized Version of the Bible)
Does this mean if I do something even though I’d rather not that in God’s eyes I shouldn’t have bothered? Because I’ll bet there are plenty of times people aren’t happy but act in a gracious and cheerful manner. In fact, here’s a saying that makes that point.
Cheerfulness in the face of adversity is the highest form of courage.
Maybe I’m splitting hairs here but I think if we act cheerful even though we are not happy that ought to count for something.
Digging into the subject I come up with this:
The words translated as happy in both the Old and New Testaments (asher in the Old, makarios in the New) also mean blessed. Cheerful on the other hand is a different word (hilaros) which can mean joyous or prompt to do anything.
Prompt to do anything! Grudging is the opposite – done very unwillingly .( http://dictionary.reverso.net/english-cobuild/grudging)
I’ve decided that even if I’m not happy about some of the sacrifices of time and effort I’m called to make (especially when I’m prompted to cook someone else a meal since I hate to cook) but if I do it promptly and with – well, perhaps not a smile but at least not a scowl – then I filled the requirement of Corinthians above. I did it promptly and cheerfully – even if I wasn’t happy about it.
And God gives me the credit even if other people don’t. Because often other people mistake cheerful for happy. For example one year I decided to smile each morning at 5:30 AM as the high schoolers came dragging downstairs for early morning seminary. That was it. Just look happy even if I was so tired it took all my energy just to make those little face muscles move to make the smile. After nine months of that when I exploded in cheers on hearing seminary was out a week earlier than I thought, the kids looked at me stunned and one said, “Why are you cheering? You were happy to get up every morning.’
See. No credit for cheerful. At least not from people. But God knows. Looking back on it, every time I’ve sacrificed promptly (cheerfully) if not happily, God blesses me with the joy.
What do you think?
Here are a few things that I was reminded of as I pondered your challenging question. Cheerful is an adjective describing someone who is, 1. full of cheer, in good spirits. 2. promoting or inducing cheer, pleasant, bright. 3. hearty or ungrudging. The antonyms of cheerful is 1. miserable. 4. grudging.
I agree with you about serving promptly, it helps us avoid the “miserable grudging” of our natures. It is easy to serve when it is something that we enjoy doing, but it takes, as you say, great courage and sacrifice to serve in an area that you do not relish. Why? because we don’t like it.
I would bet that if we used the antonyms of cheerful (miserable and grudging) to gauge our attitudes, we would soon repent. And in so doing, God would give us the cheer needed as we not focus on the task, but on the one who we are doing the task for…our Savior Jesus Christ.
Great post! Good mental exercise! I’m cheerful, you score success!
You are such a thoughtful woman Donna. I truly appreciate your comments and your blog!