“IT’S MORE BLESSED TO GIVE, than to receive.” As a kid I had a problem with that old adage. I thought the blessing of receiving far outweighed the blessing of giving. Even when you brought a gift to a friend’s birthday there was the hope, dare I say expectation, that you would receive a “goody bag” and lots of cake, and maybe a prize or two if you won the infamous pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey game. When you gave it was always with the anticipation of getting something in return.
Isn’t it good that things change with age? Or do they?
Even as adults our giving is often shadowed with the hope of receiving. We help another person with a task, with the hope that some day they will help us. We lend a tool or our car, with hopes that it will come back in better shape than when we lent it out. We may even tithe knowing that we shall receive the blessed tax-deduction at the end of the year.
But, for those blessed by God, our response should be something a quite different.
God tells us that we are gifted to be a gift, and this all started with the One who is the Gift. (John 3:16-17) We are reminded in His Word that we love because He first loved us. (1 John 4:19) Our ability to love, and thus to give, comes from the One who gave all for us. (Philippians 2:6-8) As God told Abraham, we were blessed to be a blessing. (Genesis 12:1-3)
So, there’s the grand secret to discovering the blessedness that comes from giving; you, in Christ, are the gift. In living, and giving, as our Lord did, we find the true blessing. The best gift we have to give today does not come wrapped in a box, or written upon a check, but expressed in the full giving of ourselves.
You ARE gifted . . . so, give!