The Special of the Day… From the Orange Moon Cafe…
"More Blessed To Give"
"Someone exists in whom no selfish thought, word, or action has ever, or ever will occur."
"Remember the words of the Lord Jesus, 'It is more blessed to give than to receive" (Acts 20:35).
Why did the Lord Jesus Christ say it is more blessed to give than to receive? First, of course, because it is, in fact, more blessed to give than to receive. He always spoke the truth because, as He said, "I am… the truth" (John 14:6). Thus, we trust His word in the matter of giving no less than anything else Scripture records Him to have said.
We can also take the matter further. From whence does the superiority of giving over receiving originate? The answer lies in God Himself.
"God is love… charity (love) seeketh not her own" (I John 4:8; I Corinthians 13:5).
Self sacrificial devotion to others flows within and from the very nature of our Lord. This has always been the case in the Trinity. "Thou lovedst Me before the foundation of the world" said the Lord Jesus to His Father (John 17:24). He then performed the greatest act of self sacrifice imaginable on the cross of Calvary as the love eternally existing in God flowed to those He had created. This led to the sublime bestowal of the indwelling Holy Spirit given to all who trust the Lord Jesus as God graces human hearts with Himself. "God… hath given us His Holy Spirit" (I Thessalonians 4:8). Thus, we see how intrinsic giving is in our Creator and Redeemer, and how "it is more blessed to give than to receive" comprises the very nature of His being. "He giveth to all life and breath and all things" (Acts 17:25).
The truth of the matter is that a self-centered thought has never passed through the mind of God, or will it ever. He has never uttered an egotistical word, nor will He ever. He has never performed an action based on satisfying a selfish whim, nor will He ever. Whether in the love within the Trinity, or the love bestowed upon creation, God cannot act in any manner other than altruistic devotion to others. This includes both His grace and His judgments. Our Lord acts no less unselfishly regarding the latter than He does the former. Certainly, those who experience His wrath may not feel as if God acts unselfishly. However, the Lord "not willing that any should perish" and who "has no pleasure in the death of the wicked" administers His necessary judgment at an emotional cost to Himself for the purpose of preserving the sanctity of His creation (II Peter 3:9; Ezekiel 18:32). Indeed, the challenging truth of the matter to our understanding is that God would act selfishly by withholding His wrath rather than executing it.
On an easier to comprehend note, "God loveth a cheerful giver" (II Corinthians 9:7). Why? Because He is Himself the very essence and source of cheerful giving. "It is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom" declared the Lord Jesus to His disciples (Luke 12:32). God loves to give. Moreover, every gift He ever bestows upon His creation comes at a cost to Himself. Consider. Had He never created, His beloved Son would not presently and eternally bear upon His hands and feet the wounds of nails suffered for our redemption. Creation and its preservation led to Calvary and its sacrifice. The next breath you and I breathe is the gift of the God who so loves to give that He sacrificed His Son to maintain His righteousness as He bestows His grace (Romans 3:26). Little wonder that Heavenly multitudes throng the throne of God to cry, "I beheld, and I heard the voice of many angels round about the throne and the beasts and the elders: and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain" (Revelation 5:11-12).
We can attend our hearts and minds to no more winsome contemplation. Yes, Someone exists in whom no selfish thought, word, or action has ever, or ever will occur. Moreover, such love is "shed abroad in our hearts through the Holy Spirit which is given unto us" (Romans 5:5). Believers in the Lord Jesus have begun a journey into God and His nature that reveals within our own being the wonder that "it is more blessed to give than to receive." The voyage will never end in "the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge," and in the discovery of our Lord's perfect and cheerful devotion to others. Yes, let us gaze into the heart of God, wherein we will forever behold "It is more blessed to give."
"Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children, and walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given Himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savor."(Ephesians 5:1-2)
Weekly Memory Verse
"Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity (love), I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal."
(I Corinthians 13:1).
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