Jesus said, we read in Acts 20:35, that is is more blessed to give than to receive.
This is a well used quote, and is of course, true. Our God is generous and loves to give, so he should know how indeed more blessed it is to give than to receive. And hopefully, we have learned that giving to others can be really, really fun. Our fleshly tendencies toward selfishness have been overcome by experiencing the truth that it really is more blessed to give than to receive.
But Jesus also said something else - about the joy of receiving. Without the fun of receiving, the blessing of giving is diminished. Think about how much more fun it is to give a gift that is received with delight!
Jesus said,
“Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.”
There is great joy in asking something from God and then getting it. We’re supposed to love getting from him. This may tweak your Christian sensibilities, because we have been trained to believe that wanting to get is selfish, but that giving comes from a pure heart. But God says himself that our joy will be full when we ask him for something and get what we asked for. The reason we’re supposed to ask is so that we can get. And our getting is supposed to give us joy!
It is good to love receiving as much as it is good to love giving.
And when you really think about it, if it’s more blessed to give than to receive, then our giving means for us blessing, which is something we get. So when we give, we get. And when we get, we get - joy, full joy.
Who is like our God? No one. No one at all.
What’s on your heart to ask him for today?
This is a well used quote, and is of course, true. Our God is generous and loves to give, so he should know how indeed more blessed it is to give than to receive. And hopefully, we have learned that giving to others can be really, really fun. Our fleshly tendencies toward selfishness have been overcome by experiencing the truth that it really is more blessed to give than to receive.
But Jesus also said something else - about the joy of receiving. Without the fun of receiving, the blessing of giving is diminished. Think about how much more fun it is to give a gift that is received with delight!
Jesus said,
“Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.”
There is great joy in asking something from God and then getting it. We’re supposed to love getting from him. This may tweak your Christian sensibilities, because we have been trained to believe that wanting to get is selfish, but that giving comes from a pure heart. But God says himself that our joy will be full when we ask him for something and get what we asked for. The reason we’re supposed to ask is so that we can get. And our getting is supposed to give us joy!
It is good to love receiving as much as it is good to love giving.
And when you really think about it, if it’s more blessed to give than to receive, then our giving means for us blessing, which is something we get. So when we give, we get. And when we get, we get - joy, full joy.
Who is like our God? No one. No one at all.
What’s on your heart to ask him for today?
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