"Give It Up"
EPISODE 84
Share With Others in Need
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This time of year is always challenging as a parent. In a season where we exchange gifts and create wishlists, teaching our little ones that giving is better than receiving can be a real struggle.
“In all things I have shown you that by working hard in this way we must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive’” (Acts 20:35).
Life is about more than merely acquiring possessions for ourselves and storing them away. We work so we can share with others in need (2 Cor. 8:13-15). So, let’s look at a few groups of people to whom we should be willing to give.
To The Needy
“Sell your possessions, and give to the needy. Provide yourselves with moneybags that do not grow old, with a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also” (Luke 12:33).
Who best to receive benefit from our abundance than someone who needs it? But this can be a real sticking point for even the most committed disciple. Like the rich ruler (Luke 18:18-23), we may view selling our many possessions as a dealbreaker. But as Jesus would say, “... How difficult it is for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!” (Luke 18:24).
To A Brother
“But if anyone has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God’s love abide in him? Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth” (1 John 3:17-18).
As the poor of the world, we may see members of the church in need. And our deep concern for them motivates us to take action. Like the early church did (Acts 2:44-45), we view our possessions as common possessions within the brotherhood.
To Your Enemy
“... Do not resist the one who is evil. But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if anyone would sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. And if anyone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles” (Matt. 5:38-41).
Maybe the most challenging recipient of our sharing is those who take advantage of us. It’s not our place to withhold a gift just because we don’t think they “deserve” it. Ultimately, we were God’s enemies in our sins, yet he gave us the most precious gift of all, his Son (Rom. 5:8-11).
So, open your heart, and your wallet, to those in need. And remember Jesus’ words, “... You received without paying; give without pay” (Matt. 10:8).
