The Tuesday after the Fourteenth Sunday after Trinity Sunday
Posted on September 23, 2025 by under
Scripture: 2 Corinthians 9:6-11 (NKJV)
9:6 But this I say: He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. 7 So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver. 8 And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work. 9 As it is written:
“He has dispersed abroad, He has given to the poor; His righteousness endures forever.”
10 Now may He who supplies seed to the sower, and bread for food, supply and multiply the seed you have sown and increase the fruits of your righteousness, 11 while you are enriched in everything for all liberality, which causes thanksgiving through us to God.
Devotion
In today’s reading, St. Paul utilizes an illustration that would be easy for his audience to understand. “But this I say: He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.” The stingy farmer cannot expect good results, whereas the farmer who sows in abundance should expect a good harvest. It is interesting that the Greek word for a “bountiful” harvest actually means a harvest of blessing. That is, the sower himself is rewarded for his generous giving.
This idea is common in Scripture. In the book of Proverbs, we read, “Honor the Lord with your possessions, and with the firstfruits of all your increase; so your barns will be filled with plenty, and your vats will overflow with new wine” (3:9-10). This is not a material return, but a spiritual one of joy and satisfaction. Christians are not to just give according to some benchmark dictated by Law, but according to a generous heart motivated by the Gospel, as verse 7 of our text describes a “cheerful giver.” We do not give begrudgingly under compulsion, but willingly and joyfully, knowing there is no greater joy than being God’s agent to sustain and extend His kingdom.
Collect: Keep, we beseech Thee, O Lord, Thy Church with Thy perpetual mercy; and, because the frailty of man without Thee cannot but fall, keep us ever by Thy help from all things hurtful, and lead us to all things profitable to our salvation; through Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, ever One God, world without end. Amen.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
