35 In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’” –Acts 20:35
“It is more blessed to give than to receive.”
These are Paul’s final words to the Ephesian elders. Giving for this great apostle was much more than a Sunday offering. Giving involved work to support his ministry. Giving meant hardship as he traveled to difficult places to preach.
Giving required personal sacrifice of his preferences and opinions. Giving demanded preaching the gospel when it wasn’t popular. Giving resulted in imprisonment, beating, stoning, shipwreck and abandonment by his friends.
Consider three ways in which we can give to others.
(1) Time. The gift of our time is one of the wonderful ways in which we can bless others. Our time is more than a gift; it is an investment in the lives of others.
(2) Talents. We each have our own special abilities. What are you good at? What can you do that will bless another person? What skill do you possess that can aid a friend, fellow-Christian, or acquaintance?
(3) Treasure. There is always a need for financial gifts. Biblically we are taught to give according to our ability. It may be a lot or little. The amount doesn’t matter. But the heart behind the gift does.
Giving honors God’s command, demonstrates His heart, and shows confidence in His future provision. Giving also provides a personal sense of satisfaction and fulfillment like nothing else can do.
Winston Churchill was right when he said, “We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.
So, let us ask the question, how is it more blessed to give than to receive?
I. Because giving liberates us from a privatized faith.
It is better to give than to receive because giving releases us from the isolation of self. To receive something is a privatized act.
When we receive a gift from someone else—of money, goods, or even the gift of encouragement—we experience at minimum a sense of appreciation and often a time of great joy and comfort. No one would want to miss out on the gift of love, or the gift of support when we need it!
But that is not what Paul is concerned with in Jesus’ statement. Receiving is good. However, receiving is a pleasant joy that is experienced, mostly, in isolation. In receiving, I experience the blessing. There is nothing wrong with such a response. Indeed, we are all recipients of God’s grace in Jesus Christ.
Yet, in assessing, diagnosing, and treating the spiritual ills of the Ephesians, Jesus, through Paul, taught that as good as receiving is, the giving is even better. Why? Whereas, receiving is often personal, giving leads to joy with others. To give is to experience the liberation from a privatized religion into a global movement of Christian faith, and this opens our hearts for even greater spiritual blessings.
II. Because giving an imitation of Christ.
The Bible says that Jesus did not cling to His divine privileges in heaven, but He left His royal robes of kingship to come to earth and take up the form of a man (without ever ceasing to be God).
The passage in Philippians 2, like Acts 20:35, is related to our giving of ourselves to others to imitate Jesus and, thus, become more fully integrated into the motif of Christ: the cross, the resurrection, the ascension, and the glorious and certain hope of a new heaven and a new earth.
The essential nature of the incarnation is one of giving. Thomas à Kempis wrote the classic, ‘The Imitation of Christ”. In that remarkable book, Thomas à Kempis demonstrates how the imitation of Christ causes believers to begin to look more like the life of Jesus. We began to take on the family resemblances of our Lord.
Giving is, therefore, part of our growth in Christ. To withhold, to only receive from others, is to thwart the Spirit-controlled growth in the likeness of Christ. So, it is better to give than to receive because to give is to imitate Christ and thus to become more like him in our lives.
III. Because giving is an act of worship.
To give not only brings us into the life of community and away from the isolation of selfishness; it is not only an imitation of Christ and stirs one to God’s mission in the world; but Giving is a supreme act of worship. The essence of worship is giving: giving praise, giving thanks, giving our supplications and needs to the Lord.
So, to give away one’s possessions—oneself—is a defiant act in the presence of a fallen nature. This happy defiance, however, cultivates a soul that is free to prioritize Christ; a will that is more nearly bent to grace-induced obedience, and, thus, to enter a posture of total worship. Giving is an act of worship because it ushers us into a mission that is larger than ourselves, a life of discipleship that is shaped on the life of Jesus and cultivates a lifetime of doxology.
The goal of giving is altogether related to the worship and the kingship of the Lord Jesus Christ in our lives. And that is why giving is better than receiving. The thing is, because of all these truths, you will end up receiving far more than you could ever give.
When we fail to see the greater blessing in giving than receiving, our lives are marked by consumption rather than contribution . . . by getting rather than giving. When we are more focused on giving than receiving, we become channels of grace in the lives of others.
There is some value in receiving. After all, we don’t give anything to gain salvation but only receive God’s forgiveness by faith. However, in our day-to-day lives, the blessings that come with giving far surpass any gift being received. Indeed, the generous giver reaps a bountiful harvest. Amen!!!
So, how are you doing in this area? Are a you giver or receiver?
Pastor John N. Punni, II