“You should remember the words of the Lord Jesus: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.” - Acts 20:35 (NIV).

Although giving is not among the gifts the Apostle Paul listed in I Cor 12: 4-12; it is quite clear there are those of us who find it easier to give than being stringent. Whenever a call is made to contribute to any cause, there are quick to dig into their sparse resources and freely share.

Now by the way, lest we are confused,  the givers often do not have much more than others. If one thinks that giving is a matter of how much one has, why do a majority of billionaires die with their billions all intact, hardly ever having given a penny to charity! Try fundraising from a country club and you will get an idea! Actually, for some, the more they have, the more stringent they become.

Yet those who are “givers’  among us are bound to experience more of God’s blessings in ways that outrival the rest of us. Luke 6:36 says, “Give and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you.” The implication here that wherever we give we are also depositing into a heavenly account from which we draw a multiplicity of blessings.

This is why, we are challenged, “Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly,”  and whoever sows generously will also reap generously” (2 Cor 9:6). Giving it must be remembered is a matter of heart and not how big one’s pockets are. Once Jesus compared the giving of some rich people and a poor widow with hardly anything and said, “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything—all she had to live on” (Mark 12:43-44).

The people with big hearts tend not only be more blessed but are far happier to live for they enjoy sharing and making all fulfilled. If there is a gift any of us should pray for, if we are missing it, it should be giving. Trust, it will pay off. “Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work” (2 Cor 9:7-8).

Prayer for today: Lord Father God of Abraham, creator of heaven and earth, from you who gave your life for our salvation, we learn the value of giving, and today I pray that you may give me the gifting of giving knowing the multiple blessings of those who give!