The Blessedness of Giving
Acts 20:35
I have shewed you all things, how that so labouring ye ought to support the weak, and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, It is more blessed to give than to receive.
It is necessary that we understand that authentic Christianity is supremely paradoxical. What I mean is this, biblical Christianity looks seemingly absurd when compared with the world’s belief system regarding some things in that, we believers see the invisible with the eyes of faith, believe the impossible, we are strong in our weakest state, we forsake to have and the more we die, the more we live.
Our opening text expresses yet one more of Christianity’s paradoxes — “it is more blessed to give than to receive.” Paul quoted directly the words of Christ. To paraphrase this, we can say, you are happier when you give than when you receive or get. We know how hard it can be to let go of our possession, in fact Christ’s statement negates the Wisdom of this world who believes in amassing possessions.
Now, how is this particular statement true? — we see God demonstrate this for us by giving his son up for the sins of the world. You might ask where is the blessing in that? The answer is that it is obvious that we believers are the blessings of His giving. His giving one Son brought many sons unto Glory.
One of the Kingdom culture for believers is giving. Giving is our culture. We don’t give because Christ says there is blessing in giving, we give because it’s our nature and culture (it’s our lifestyle). In other words, giving is who we are since we are partakers of His nature. Hence, be happy to give when you see every opportunity for you to do so. Give to God’s work, give to those in need, support the weak — not necessarily monetary, acts of service is part of it also. Remember, giving brings greater Joy.
CONFESSION
I give generously because that is my nature
And I’m blessed as I do so.
Amen!
