GIVING
GIVING
“God loveth a cheerful giver” (2 Corinthians 9: 7). In order to be a giver according to the mind of the Lord, I must first have means to give. I must not deprive any one else of his first claim, either relations or dependents. If I possess property which I can use for myself if I like, it is absolutely my own, no one can in any wise lay claim to it. I have this to give, and this I will give, not trying to make it go further or to be more than it really is. If I do this, it is vanity or deceit or a desire to make one indebted to me for what I have not given him; as, for instance, if I were to give a gilt watch as if it were a gold one, thus seeking to obtain credit for a greater gift than I have given; and if I try to obtain an article at a cheap rate in the hope that the receiver will imagine that I gave more for it, thus I am trading on his credulity and fostering an unworthy spirit in myself. Of course,
[p. 451] if I had to lay out a certain sum for a person, I ought to do so advantageously if I can; but I speak of giving what is my own to give, that I am not seeking to save anything out of it while giving the best part of it, nor do I endeavour to make it appear more than it really is. You must learn how to give from the Lord. He gives liberally. He gives, and is ready to give more. There is no regret in His mind for giving, nor desire to make His gift appear more than it is. The mind of a real giver is of the greatest nobility. It is like the sun. He gives, and is glad to give and that he can give, not grudgingly or of necessity; he sees what I require, and rejoices that he can supply it; and he has not a satisfying pleasure unless he has done it effectually. He has no such feeling as, ‘I wish I could have escaped it’, or ‘I must clip and retrench and make hard bargains with others because I have been so liberal’. On the contrary, he feels he would like to give more, and what he gives is cheerfully bestowed. To be known as a Benefactor or Lady Bountiful is not divine giving. The heart of the true giver only likes possessions to share them, and there is no bargaining of mind that now he may spend more on himself, or desire to gratify a still more hateful propensity - that of hoarding. In both these ways great givers often deceive themselves and gratify their corrupt desires. It is the greatest and highest position a man can occupy towards his fellow. “It is more blessed to give than to receive” (Acts 20: 35), and the true giver knows the sense of that blessedness.