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.”  

Receiving Through Giving

It's almost universal - everyone enjoys
receiving things. But are we as eager to give?

There’s not one of us that doesn’t like getting things. Christmas morning, waking up and going to see what’s in that brightly colored box with our name on it under the tree. On our birthday, getting gifts from friends and loved ones – just because we’ve aged a year. A surprise gift when there’s no special reason. Even people that don’t need anything like to receive things – Oprah; rich entertainers at annual awards shows, the President.

And our society teaches one of the secrets to happiness and security is accumulating stuff. We even spend money on insurance to make sure we don’t lose it – or at least are able to replace it. Years ago someone summed it up with this slogan: “He who dies with the most toys wins.”

So if the presumed key is to get things and hang onto them with all of our might, what’s with the biblical adage even people who’ve never read the Bible can repeat: “It is more blessed to give than receive”?

Yes, unlike “God helps those that help themselves” – which is found nowhere in the Scriptures – this admonition about giving actually is there. As the apostle Paul declared, “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).

This, as I noted several posts back, is another of the seeming paradoxes of biblical faith. In our materialistic culture, it might even be the greatest paradox of all. How can we gain if we choose to give away? How can you increase when you’re busy decreasing what you possess? But this principle is there, just the same. And it’s frequently reaffirmed.

Speaking to a large crowd of people gathered around Him, Jesus said, “Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you" (Luke 6:38).

He was saying then – and still says today – if we give, freely and generously from the heart, we’ll not lack for anything. God will more than supply what we need. There’s one caveat: Our giving should be without reservation.

“Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work” (2 Corinthians 9:7-8).

But it’s more than being assured if we give to help others in whatever way we’re impressed to do so, we’ll not be left destitute ourselves. There’s the intangible joy and fulfillment we receive in being used as an instrument for assisting others in need.

I’ve experienced this not only in giving money and goods, but in investing time and energy in mentoring others, helping them to grow professionally, personally and spiritually, and being a resource for them as they work through various problems and issues in their lives. Volunteering in other ways can provide the same sense of gratification.

In fact, this giving of ourselves is probably the greatest of all forms of giving. We might not all have the same incomes, bank accounts or portfolios, but we all have the same 24 hours each day, seven days a week. How we use that time is a strong indicator of whether we’re self-focused or others-oriented.

The same holds true for God, the greatest giver of all. John 3:16, which most of us are at least somewhat familiar with, states, “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.” That is the consummate definition of giving.