<p>9:7 <i>Let each man do according to what he intends in his heart- </i>The Greek suggests that they were to do this in the future (AV &quot;so let him give&quot;). Which rather gives the lie to Paul's over enthusiastic claim that they had already started donating in actuality (8:10). He is asking them to now give something, even on a symbolic level. But for all the desperation of his position and pressuring of the Corinthians to donate, Paul does to his credit recognize that all giving must be from the heart. It was there in the heart that the Holy Spirit resided, at least potentially; and Paul is again hinting that their giving would be actualized by allowing the path of the Spirit in their thinking and actions. Giving according to the heart is an allusion to Israel donating towards the work of the tabernacle (Ex. 25:2; 35:21). The new tabernacle is the poorest of the Christian believers.</p><p><i>Not grudgingly, or of necessity- </i>Yet some of the reasons Paul urges for their giving were indeed from a motive &quot;of necessity&quot;, e.g. to save face (:4). As discussed previously, this is another example of apparent contradiction within Paul's reasoning, so desperate is he to see this project work, at least on some level.</p><p><i>For God loves a cheerful giver- </i>The quotation is from Prov. 22:8 LXX &quot;God blesses a cheerful and giving man&quot;. The blessing may be alluded to in :8-10 where the idea is that God blesses the generous with even more to give. Paul has written of how the abounding joy of the poor brethren in Macedonia abounded unto a generosity which was actually beyond their means (2 Cor. 8:2). And here when he goes on to speak of how God loves a &ldquo;<i>cheerful</i> giver&rdquo; (2 Cor. 9:7), he uses a word which James Strong defines as meaning &lsquo;hilarious&rsquo;, from the Greek <i>hilaros</i>. And yet our giving tends to so often be a matter of phlegmatic planning, to salve an otherwise uneasy conscience. But the picture Paul paints is of a man or woman <i>hilarious</i> in their giving to the poor. This isn&rsquo;t the giving which watches for the response, and is offended if it isn&rsquo;t what we expect. This is a picture of giving from the joy of giving, reflecting the Father&rsquo;s generosity to us. And this, Paul says, <i>God loves</i>. Quite simply. We touch the heart of Almighty God by such giving. And yet this hilarious giving isn&rsquo;t merely the emotion of a moment, the sort of thing played upon in many a Pentecostal gathering. It is to be a giving as a person &lsquo;purposes in their heart&rsquo; (2 Cor. 9:7); and again, Strong challenges us with his definition of the Greek word translated &lsquo;purposes&rsquo;: &ldquo;to <i>choose</i> for oneself <i>before</i> another thing (<i>prefer</i>), that is, (by implication) to <i>propose</i> (<i>intend</i>)&rdquo;. But having made this conscious decision, to put, say, Sister Svetlana&rsquo;s need before your preference for a new piece of furniture, we are to perform the actual giving with the hilarity of the cheerful giver. And as we know, Paul makes the point that such acts of generosity are acts of sowing, bringing forth fruits of righteousness; and the Lord will grant us yet more seed to sow in the same way. Forsaking all we have may not mean we are left with nothing.&nbsp;</p>