Luke 6:38, “give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, shall they give into your bosom. For with what measure ye mete it shall be measured to you again.” ASV
Our CEO at CBN Asia mentioned this verse to me today. It also taught me something about giving at the same time. That when we give, we give to God for He alone is the One who will return.
I may have mentioned a few posts ago that me and my wife, Emy, have been helping out a few people close to our hearts. Two of them are orphaned by their fathers. We try to help them as much as we can reasonably give. It is also a difficult economy. We are not starving at any measure. It is just enough.
We sometimes get into a mindset that these people that we help are beginning to become a heavy load to us. We truly love them, you see, and that makes it very hard not help them. We sometimes feel that we are left with no choice but to give in and shell out.
The verse above goes against my feelings. Without me realizing it, I feel that the money we give is not coming back anymore and I should just work harder. Jesus said “give and it shall be given unto you.” Why do I feel that we only use this verse when it’s tithes and offering time in church? I was so terribly wrong.
Jesus said this in verse 35 of the same chapter: Luke 6:35, “But love your enemies, and do[ them] good, and lend, never despairing; and your reward shall be great, and ye shall be sons of the Most High: for he is kind toward the unthankful and evil.”
What struck me here is the line that says, “…and lend, never despairing…” A few times when I help someone, and I know that money will never return to me again, I despair. It’s like I’ve been trapped. Jesus said that great is the reward for those who will lend, probably to the needy, and will not despair.
This is probably another reason why I feel that the Lord is not prospering me the way I expect it. I always thought it was just God’s tests to me. I think I really need to change my attitude towards giving. I remember when Jesus said in the Bible that when you give to the poor you give to the Lord. And the Lord owes you. Well, I believe the Lord gives me back what he owes me, but because I was despairing He does not reward me greatly.
I need to change my ways. I think He is showing this to me because He is preparing to bless me and use me to become a blessing to somebody else and I need to have the right spirit in me.
I hope I have given you blessing today as much as I have been blessed by God’s revelation to me.
