Short answer: 2 Corinthians 9:6–8 says nothing about cash, cards, or transfers. It says each person should give as they have settled in their heart, not grudgingly or under pressure, because God loves a cheerful giver, and it says God is able to supply what is needed for generous giving. So the passage answers your question by regulating your motive and measure rather than your method. Giving by card is a wisdom decision, and borrowing to give is not commended here.
A promised gift, a careful arrangement, and a God who supplies
Second Corinthians 9:6–8 comes from a pastoral letter, not a rulebook. Paul writes to a church he founded, and here he is arranging a collection for poor believers elsewhere. The appeal runs from chapter 8 into chapter 9, and its shape is practical: he explains the travel plans, names the brothers who will go ahead, and asks that the promised gift be ready before he arrives. In 9:4–5 he admits a plain human concern, that an unprepared gift would embarrass both the Corinthians and him. So he frames the collection as generosity rather than greediness, and only then does he speak about sowing and reaping.
The surrounding chapters press two examples. Other churches gave out of real poverty, and Christ himself, though rich, became poor so that others might be enriched. Against that backdrop, 9:6 states a wisdom principle about sowing: sparing seed yields a sparing harvest, bountiful seed a bountiful one. Verse 7 immediately guards the motive, asking each person to give as they have determined in their heart, not grudgingly or under compulsion. Notice the order. Paul does not begin with a demand. He describes generous giving, then protects the giver's freedom, then grounds the whole appeal in God's character rather than in the size of the gift.
Verse 8 turns from the giver to God: he is able to make all grace abound, so that those who give may have sufficiency in everything and abound in good work. Verses 9–10 reach back to the Psalms and to seed and bread, tying generosity to God's ongoing provision rather than to a transaction. Two cautions belong here. Giving through a rewards credit card can quietly become debt, and debt is not generosity. And no giving method, card or cash, secures God's favor or guarantees a financial return. Grace comes first, and our giving is a response to a God who supplies.
What the sowing and giving words actually say
Paul reaches for a farmer's picture in 2 Corinthians 9:6. Sowing and reaping describe a proportional relationship: the amount planted shapes the amount harvested. He uses that picture to stir generosity, not to install a formula where a certain gift produces a certain financial return. Read the verse closely and the point is direction, not arithmetic. The one who plants little should expect little; the one who plants generously should expect a generous harvest. Paul is not selling an investment. He is asking the Corinthians to follow through on what they already promised, and he wants the giving to be ready when he arrives, not scrambled together at the last minute.
Then in 2 Corinthians 9:7 the decision lands with the giver. Each person gives as he has determined in his heart, deliberately, without being squeezed into it. Paul names two ways giving goes wrong. Grudgingly describes a gift that hurts to part with, the kind given while the hand still clings. Under compulsion describes a gift extracted by pressure from a person or a moment. Against both stands the cheerful giver, someone glad to give. The verse does not set an amount. It sets a posture, and it leaves the amount to a heart that has thought and decided. That is why giving through a credit card deserves honest scrutiny: if the gift becomes revolving debt, the glad willingness is quietly replaced by pressure and interest, and the giver is no longer free.
Verse 8 turns to God's side of the equation. Paul says God is able to make all grace abound toward you, so that having enough in everything you may abound in good work. Notice what the sufficiency is for: the good work, not a guarantee of surplus. The promise is God's ability, not a mechanism that turns a gift into a return. Giving by any method, card or cash, earns nothing and secures no favor; the grace is already God's gift in Christ. What verse 8 offers is supply for generosity, a God who is able to keep the giver equipped for the work in front of them.
A settled purpose, not a payment method
Paul is gathering a promised collection from the Corinthians for poor believers in Jerusalem, and he sends brothers ahead so the gift will be ready when he arrives. He says plainly why: he does not want the visit to become an embarrassment, either to them or to him, and he wants the gift to be ready as generosity rather than greediness (9:4–5). That setting matters for the question at hand. Paul is arranging logistics, timing and preparation. He is not weighing cash against card against transfer. The mechanics of how money moves never come up in the passage.
Verse 6 sets the measure with a farming image: sparing sowing yields a sparing harvest, bountiful sowing a bountiful one. Verse 7 immediately guards the motive, telling each person to give as he has settled in his own heart, not grudgingly or under compulsion, because God loves a cheerful giver. Read together, the two verses rule out both stinginess and pressure. The amount is a matter of personal decision. Verse 8 then grounds the appeal not in the giver's resources but in God's ability to make grace abound, so that the giver has sufficiency and can abound in good work.
Verses 9 and 10 reach back to the Psalms and to seed and bread, tying generosity to God's ongoing provision rather than to a transaction. What the text regulates is the heart's settled purpose, the measure, and the willingness of the giver. It says nothing about borrowing to give, and it promises no particular return for any particular method. Giving through credit can quietly become debt, and no payment method secures God's favor or a financial result. The call here is a cheerful, deliberate gift, trusting God to supply what is needed.
God is able to make all grace abound to you, that you, always having all sufficiency in everything, may abound to every good work.
Where careful readers disagree about sowing, sufficiency and the tithe
Paul sets two pictures side by side. A farmer who scatters little seed gets a little harvest, and one who scatters much gets much. Then he insists each person give as they decided in their heart, not reluctantly or under pressure, because God loves a cheerful giver (2 Corinthians 9:7). Readers divide over whether the sowing line is a wisdom principle about generous living or a near-mechanical promise of material return. The text itself promises no wealth. It describes a pattern in God's world, not a formula that turns giving into investment. What stays central is that the gift is voluntary, decided beforehand, and cheerful rather than squeezed out of someone.
Verse eight moves from the giver's heart to God's ability. God is able to make all grace abound so that the giver, always having enough in everything, may abound in every good work. Careful readers differ over what that sufficiency means. Some hear abundance for every desire; the wording leans toward enough for every good work. The purpose of the supply is service, not luxury. Notice also what Paul does not say. He gives no percentage here, and the tithe belongs to Israel's covenant arrangements. Readers disagree over whether a tithe binds the church today, but this passage calls for willing generosity rather than a fixed rate.
The text is silent on how the gift travels, including whether a credit card is wise. That silence leaves room for conscience and honest stewardship, not for treating one method as more spiritual. Giving through credit can quietly become debt, and debt is not generosity. No method secures God's favor or a financial return; the cross already secures favor, and the return Paul describes is fruit for good work. So decide the amount in your heart, give what you actually have, and keep the payment plan as plain as the gift. Where readers disagree, keep the center: voluntary, proportionate, cheerful giving that rests on God's provision, not pressure.
The grace behind the giving
Paul does not begin this appeal in a vacuum. Just before these verses he points the Corinthians to the grace of Jesus, who though rich became poor so that others might become rich through him. The giving he asks for is a response to a gift already received. That order matters for anyone asking about a rewards card or any other method. Verse 7 says each person should give as they have determined in their heart, not reluctantly or under pressure. The cheerful giver is not someone squeezing generosity out of an empty account. It is someone who has first been on the receiving end of God's kindness in Christ.
Verse 6 uses a farming picture: sparing seed means a sparing harvest, and generous seed means a generous harvest. Paul is describing a principle about sowing, not a formula that guarantees a return. Then verse 8 turns the spotlight from our giving to God's supply: God is able to make all grace abound toward you, so that having enough in everything you may abound in every good work. Notice the direction. The abundance is God's action before it is our output. The gospel shape is visible here without being forced: we give because we have been given to, and the grace that fuels giving is the same grace that met us in Christ.
Verse 9 quotes the psalm about one who scattered abroad and gave to the poor, whose righteousness remains forever. That endurance is God's own righteousness, shared with those who give, not a reward earned by a payment method. So a warning belongs here. Giving through credit can quietly become debt, and debt is not generosity. No giving method secures God's favor or guarantees a financial return. What remains forever is the righteousness God gives, and the cheerful heart he produces in people who have first received his grace in Christ.
What faithful giving looks like in ordinary life
Paul sets a test before the amount: is the gift settled in your heart, and could you give it gladly? In 2 Corinthians 9:7 he writes, "Let each man give according as he has determined in his heart, not grudgingly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver." That rules out giving because a moment pressed you or because a card made the gift feel painless. If charging a gift would create debt you cannot repay, the honest counsel is to wait and give what you actually have. Verse eight speaks of sufficiency, not borrowing, so no method of giving secures God's favor or a financial return.
If you use a card for convenience and pay the balance in full, the passage neither commands nor forbids it. That belongs to conscience and wise stewardship, not to a rule Paul lays down. What he does model is planning: he arranged for the brothers to go ahead and collect the gift the Corinthians had promised, so it would be ready as generosity rather than as greediness (9:5). Decide the amount ahead of time, before the emotion of a moment or the ease of credit shapes it. A gift determined in advance and given gladly is the response this text commends.
Verse eight grounds the whole practice in God's action, not yours: he is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having sufficiency in everything you may abound in every good work. Trust his supply for your needs and for the good work in front of you, without claiming a return he has not promised. Sowing bountifully (9:6) is a wisdom principle about generosity, not a guarantee of wealth. Give what you have, plan it prayerfully, and let gratitude for grace, not the hope of gain, shape the gift.
Biblical fidelity check
Paul writes to a church that had promised a collection and then stalled, so 9:6–8 sits inside an appeal about a pledge already made. Read carefully, the risk is turning the farming image into a formula: plant more, harvest more money. The sowing and reaping language is agricultural and describes a proportional relationship, but Paul aims it at generosity, not at a guaranteed financial return. Likewise, the sufficiency in 9:8 is God's supply for good work, not a promise of surplus for every desire. The wording leans toward enough for every good work.
The real disagreement is whether the tithe binds the church, since Paul speaks of willing generosity rather than a fixed percentage, and the tithe belongs to Israel's covenant arrangements. Readers also differ over whether 9:6–8 promises material return or states a wisdom principle about generous living, and over whether giving on credit is prudent; here the text is silent, so conscience and honest stewardship decide. What stays central is that giving is voluntary, proportionate, cheerful, and grounded in God's provision rather than pressure or a hoped-for return.
Studies that take up 2 Corinthians 9:6-8 from another angle
For further study, compare Paul's earlier appeal in Giving to the Poor: Proverbs 19:17 Lends to Yahweh, the Old Testament background he cites in Proverbs 19:17: Giving to the Poor Is Lending to God, and the wider collection for the saints in 2 Timothy 2:15: Handling the Word of Truth. A close look at Jesus' teaching on money in James 1:22–25: Bible Study That Ends in Doing rounds out the picture of the heart behind giving.
Frequently asked questions
Does God promise to bless me financially if I give more?
No, 2 Corinthians 9:6–8 does not promise a financial return on your giving. The sowing and reaping line in 9:6 is a proverb about the proportion of a harvest, and Paul applies it to generosity of heart, not to an investment that pays back in money. What 9:8 does promise is that God is able to make grace abound so that you have sufficiency for every good work, which is about having enough to keep giving, not about getting richer. Treat any teaching that ties a specific amount of money to a specific financial outcome as going beyond this text.
Is it wrong to go into debt in order to give to church or charity?
Scripture nowhere commands borrowing in order to give, and this passage does not commend it. Paul's concern in 9:7 is that giving be willing and settled in the heart, not forced or reluctant, and a gift funded by interest-bearing debt often becomes a burden the giver did not count on. Giving through a credit card can quietly turn generosity into debt, so count the full cost before you give and never let a giving method become a way of securing God's favor. If you cannot pay the balance, waiting and giving from what you have is the wiser path.
How much should a Christian give, and is the tithe still required?
2 Corinthians 9:7 gives the measure as what each person has determined in their heart, not a fixed percentage enforced from outside. Paul does not mention the tithe here, and he does not set a number, because the point is willingness rather than compulsion. That does not make giving optional or casual; 9:6 presses toward bountiful sowing, and 9:8 assumes you will have enough to abound in good work. Give prayerfully, proportionately, and cheerfully, and let your conscience and wise counsel shape the amount.
