Earning a Blessing: Give

If we want a blessed life, we must be givers.

We reap what we sow, so if we want good friends we have to be a good friend, if we want grace we must give grace.

open hand, blue wall (day 90) by Jenny Spadafora

Matthew 5:38-42—The principle here is that no matter what, we must give, and give back not what the other person deserves, but what we would want.

Luke 6:27-38—God is gracious to ungrateful and evil people because He is gracious. That's just who he is. We have to be loving and gracious because it is in our DNA as God's children. We don't have a choice whether or not to turn the cheek—we have the Spirit of love in us.

Proverbs 3:27-29—If it is in our power to give something and our neighbor needs it, Heaven expects us to let go. There are people who are leeches by their DNA (Proverbs 30:15), but for us who are saved, we are givers. It is in our flesh to be self-centered, but we can't be blessed if we aren't giving.

When we are selfish we live in guilt. Apart from Jesus we are under a curse, under condemnation. If you live under that then you have guilt, and translate that into more selfishness, and more frustration and entitlement and disappointment and more selfishness. That is the curse the world is under.

To give against our human nature requires faith. We can't receive anything back unless we throw our bread upon the waters (Ecclesiastes 11:1). Giving something we could benefit from to someone else in need is absurd. But that makes God smile, and He promises to give back to us. If we aren't giving, we aren't growing our faith. How good are you at giving with no expectations and no strings attached? God gives to the giver, not the giver who gives the right gift at the right time, but the one who gives with a joyful spirit.

We have to overcome our fear of giving. When we give with expectations that means we haven't really given, and we set ourselves up for disappointment and pain. If we loan someone something, we must be prepared to not get it back. Our future hope doesn't reside in a loan repaid. We give because we have received. We aren't investing ourselves into this gift, we are just distributing God's blessing. It is ours to give, not control.

Here are 101+ differences between givers and takers. Givers support and energize while takers undermine and drain energies. Givers are willing to "break the rules" to show compassion, while takers live, fight and die by "principles" and "rights."

We live with open hands. We consistently give out, like the widow of Zarephath who gave her last meal to the prophet and was greatly rewarded. God pours in blessing and we pour it out. We can't get if we don't give. And we must give first.