Giving: It All Gets Back to the Best That God Gave

Now that we’ve gotten past Black Friday and Cyber Monday, it’s officially Christmas season. Santa Claus, the Grinch and the Clydesdales are figuring prominently in TV commercials. Most radio stations are playing carols (for those of us who still listen to the radio). Heartwarming, timeless Christmas movies are reappearing on networks, cable stations and streaming services. Ads on smartphone apps are teasing us with intriguing gift suggestions. And today’s “Giving Tuesday.” What says Christmas more than that? 

Giving is something we can – and should – practice year-round, but Christmastime has always been regarded as “the season of giving.” There are many reasons for this, but none better than being reminded about the greatest gift of all: “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him” (John 3:16-17).

 

God “so loved the world that He gave….” In the Bible we find the Lord giving and giving and giving, even though we’re so undeserving. That’s a topic for discussion in itself, but considering that our Creator has given so much, how can we not be inspired to give as well?

 

Ironically, it’s not hard to turn the ‘season of giving’ around and make it the ‘season for receiving.’ We compile lists of wants, ready to share them with anyone who might be inclined to give us something for Christmas. I know, having spent many a Christmas season eagerly anticipating what might be inside the brightly wrapped and bowed gifts awaiting me under the tree.

 

But Jesus’ statement that it’s “more blessed to give than to receive” (Acts 20:35) isn’t a simple, nice-sounding platitude. It’s as profound a declaration as we can find anywhere. Because when we give to others we also receive, even if not in a tangible sense.

 

For more than 20 years I benefited directly from the generosity of others. Working with parachurch ministries, I had the responsibility for raising my financial support, as do missionaries who serve the Lord in foreign lands. If my support wasn’t there, there was no paycheck. So, I had great appreciation for the many people who believed in the work God had called me to do. They didn’t have to be coerced – they eagerly wanted to help in making that possible, often saying they considered it a privilege.

 

One byproduct of this was cultivating my own enthusiasm for helping to support causes the Lord has placed on my heart. It was humbling to know people cared enough to invest in the work I was doing. Often Jesus’ statement came to mind that, “When someone has been given much, much will be required in return” (Luke 12:48). It truly is a joy to participate in what God’s doing in so many areas, and giving financially is one means for doing that.

 

At this time of year, I’m also reminded of a statement made many years ago by Bob Lupton, who had established an inner-city ministry in Atlanta. Experience had taught him a simple reality for the poor. He said, “The greatest poverty is the inability to give.” What I understood this to mean is that always being a recipient and never a giver can be discouraging, even demeaning.

 

We find this illustrated in the Scriptures. Writing to Christ followers in Corinth, the apostle Paul observed, “…the grace that God has given the Macedonian churches. Out of the most severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity. For I testify that they gave as much as they were able, and even beyond their ability…they urgently pleaded with us for the privilege of sharing in the service of the saints” (2 Corinthians 8:1-4).

 

Can you imagine being so impoverished and yet pleading to be allowed to give materially to support others? That’s genuine giving, determining to give even when it hurts.

 

Which brings us back to God’s greatest gift, taking on human flesh not only to teach, to minister to people in need, and to give us an example to follow, but also to give His own life to satisfy the penalty for our sins. As Paul wrote to one of the men he was mentoring, “…we wait for the blessed hope – the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness, and to purify for Himself a people that are His very own, eager to do what is good” (Titus 2:13-14).

 

This Christmas season, let’s try to avoid having the distractions of the sparkling lights, lilting holiday songs and festively colored packages take our focus off this “blessed hope.”  

Why It Really Is More Blessed to Be Giving

Recently, I was reflecting on a now-lost tradition of the Christmas season – the wondrous arrival of the Sears Christmas catalog. Kids today don’t know what they’re missing. I’m sure there were other items in the catalog, but I recall it virtually bursting with toys of all kinds, some even beyond imagining.

 

Being a boy, I quickly paged through the dolls, Easy-Bake ovens and frilly stuff. It didn’t take long to find what I was looking for: train sets, play pistols and rifles, miniature forts and cowboy towns, model cars, board games and building kits. The images conjured up more images – those of what might lie wrapped underneath the tree on Christmas morning.

 

As a spoiled youngster, I figured I knew what Christmas was all about: Receiving. That seems true even today for many folks, except for the disappearance of Sears and its “wish book” catalogs. Over the next few weeks, we’ll be bombarded with advertisements about all the goodies we can purchase in stores and online. We’ll hear sanctimonious reminders that it’s all about giving. But in reality, the commercials will underscore that this season has become the pinnacle for materialism.

 

Granted, we did recently observe “Giving Tuesday” after Black Friday and the more-recently created Cyber Monday. Snail mail, TV promotions and email were jammed with pleas to give to charitable causes of all kinds, often with promises that whatever we gave would be doubled or even tripled by matching grants. So, the giving side of Christmas wasn’t forgotten.

 

But I can’t help feeling the giving focus of this time of year isn’t nearly as sharp as the receiving focus. And that’s a shame. Because after all, we’re told, “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.” 

 

The first Christmas was unquestionably about giving – giving us a Savior who would not only teach and serve as a living example, but also become the atoning sacrifice for our sins so we might be redeemed and gain an eternal relationship with God. That’s why no one was more qualified than Jesus to say, “It is more blessed to give than to receive” (Acts 20:35).

 

I like receiving Christmas gifts as much as the next person, but when we concentrate on the getting part and neglect the giving part, everyone suffers loss.

 

Jesus spoke about this when He explained about separating the sheep and the goats, those who were His genuine followers and those who were not. One of the indicators was selflessness, a willingness to give even when it did not seem personally beneficial. “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me’” (Matthew 25:40).

 

It’s hard to imagine how giving to someone asking for help can be, in effect, giving to the Lord. But that’s what He said. These sentiments are repeated many other places in the Scriptures, including Proverbs 19:17, which declares, “Whoever is kind to the poor lends to the Lord, and He will reward them for what they have done.” If the Lord asked us for something, would we say no?

 

We live in a time when many people seem to expect handouts, whether it’s forgiveness of college loan debts they have accrued, subsidies to offset economic effects of a pandemic, or the growing number of homeless people populating our streets. Admittedly, I’ve grown jaded over the years after being stung personally by seemingly legitimate hardship stories that I later learned were contrived. It would be easier to be generous if we knew for certain the needs were genuine.

 

Unfortunately (for those of us who like to make excuses and justify them), the Bible doesn’t teach, “Give only when you can confirm needs are valid.” To the contrary, we’re given only one qualification for giving. In 2 Corinthians 9:6-7 we’re exhorted: 

     “Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.”

 

When we give, we’re not to do so grudgingly or feeling as if we’re compelled to do so. We’re also not to give in such a way that people will notice our acts of generosity. Jesus said, “Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven” (Matthew 6:1).

God desires that we should give, and when we do so, that’s it’s done cheerfully. Sometimes I need to stop and remind myself, but when we consider how much and how lavishly God has given to us, in so many ways, how can we not give with cheerful hearts?