Sunday, October 5, 2014

Give to Get

Give to Get
Oct 6, 2014
Luke 6:38  "Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you."

The Bible teaches reciprocity very clearly.  You will reap what you sow.  If you sow hatred then you will reap a harvest of it.  If you sow kindness then you will reap kindness in return.  The Bible also says that if you give to others, then it will be given back to you, with an additional helping on top.  It is important in reading scripture to understand how and why it teaches about reciprocity and giving, though.  Many people have not received back what was sown, which makes the teaching controversial, putting its validity into question.  It looks bad on scripture and makes people doubt the Lord and His Word.

When the Bible introduces reciprocity, it does so from a logical perspective, telling how things work, not necessarily making recommendations.  It is similar in teaching about gravity.  Gravity is a law of nature that works very distinctively.  The Lord's teaching about reciprocity is much the same way, describing a law of His nature.  If you do this, then xyz will be the result.  It never says you should do something just because you want xyz to happen.  In learning fully about reciprocity, you must dive deeper into Scripture, other than the introductory course on gravity.  The Bible teaches about kindness for the sake of being kind, not because you want to only be treated kindly.  The Bible teaches about forgiveness because it is good and healthy to forgive, not simply because you want to be forgiven.  There is a heart issue involved if reciprocity will work correctly.  If your heart is selfish in your motive for giving something, then your return will be void.  If you are only giving because you will GET, then you've missed the teaching entirely.

It is true the Lord will not unleash reciprocity in your life unless you have sown the correct item, however, it must be sown correctly.  Giving to get something in return is not giving, it is a bribe.  You cannot bribe the Lord or the Lord's kingdom.  The Bible is clear that a bribe comes from a selfish heart, one the Lord refuses to honor.  The Lord will not be bribed and the Lord will not be held hostage to a faulty understanding of reciprocity.  If you haven't received back from that which was sown, check your motives in sowing it in the first place.  Chances are, you are keeping score, tallying up what you've given, waiting for the gifts to return to you in full force.  It ain't gonna happen.

Even if you've give with generous motives, if you look for your reward, then you still missed the boat, not fully understanding the Lord.  The word "give" means to push it away from you knowing it will not return.  If you are looking for the return of it, then you didn't give it, you were trying to lend it.  Giving in the Lord's kingdom means pushing something away from you that you should not expect to see again.  If you do see it returned, great, but if not you should still be glad you gave.  If you've ever regretted giving, then you gave with the wrong motives.  The Lord says He loves a happy or cheerful giver, those are the only ones for whom I've ever seen reciprocity work correctly.  They were glad to be rid of whatever they were giving away.  They didn't hold tightly to it; they were glad to see it go.  They are the true givers.  If you hold tightly to what you're giving, then you aren't really giving it.

Here is a tip in giving; don't keep track of what you give.  In fact, forget you ever gave it and do it with a smile on your face being glad to get rid of it.  If you see it in return, then be genuinely and overwhelmingly shocked.  This way you'll be a cheerful giver and reciprocity will then work correctly, knowing you never demanded it to come your way again.  If reciprocity didn't work for you, then your measure of giving wasn't giving at all.

Don't take my word for it; look it up:  Pr 17:8, Gal 6:7, 2 Cor 9:5

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