It’s more blessed to given then to receive

Acts 20:35 (NASB-U)
"In everything I showed you that by working hard in this manner you must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that He Himself said, 'It is more blessed to give than to receive.' "

1.Culture tells us to take God says when we give we are like Him.

We live in a culture that is very dissatisfied and unhappy. We are made in the image of God and acting like God brings us happiness. People are trying to be fulfilled by things that God calls sin and instead people are getting even more unhappy and dissatisfied. The culture teaches us take, get yours. Many people struggle with church and worship because they are selfish. The Bible teaches us we must put God first and worship Him. Church is not just to meet your needs it’s also to honor God and give Him the worship and service He deserves. Sometimes serving God is inconvenient and will take sacrifice, when you do, God will honor and reward you. If we serve and worship God we will surely receive for this is the principle of the kingdom. As we worship God and put Him first we receive from Him.

2.Blessing others are acts of ministry and compassion in giving we meet the needs of people.

Empowering others is the secret to the success of any business or occupation. Satisfy people and you will succeed. God wants to satisfy us but we will never be satisfied by being selfish, greedy, unloving, without generosity, love, and compassion for others.

Jesus Christ began His ministry by meeting the spiritual, mental, and emotional needs of others. Ministering to others is a powerful sign of godliness and God’s touch in our lives. We are like Christ when we seek to meet the needs of others. We are our best selves when we help others. We can help others in many ways. Some ways we can do it is by friendship, love, and mentoring. We can do it by providing for others who are poor or need clothes. We can do it by giving our time to each other and hear each others hearts. We can do it by serving in the house of God. When we help people to feel loved we build them up. When we love people we give them strength for life and a significance that will cause them in turn to help others. There was a movie called pay it forward where people were to pass an act of kindness on to others.

3.In blessings others we can help people to feel loved and so we sow seeds of joy in their lives.

There are so many unhappy people today even though they have more possessions than nay preceding generation. Joy is a powerful spiritual gift that comes from a loving acceptance from God that fosters trust and contentment in Him. Many psychological tests have been done over the years to find out what people need to be healthy. What these tests demonstrate is the lack of love in peoples lives cause much of the heartache that is in them. Generations of dysfunctional people are born because we fail to love and give people what they need. The purpose of every life is to give love to people so that there lives are filled with joy. Imagine how wonderful it would be if we all loved each other till our lives are filled with joy. Christianity is about joy because through Christianity we discover God loves us and we are the delight of His heart. God wants to sow into us so that our joy might be full.

4.Sowing into the lives of others builds the kingdom of God.

The kingdom of God is advanced when people are given what they need to succeed and be happy. Jesus came with His message of love so it would advance the cause and purpose of God in the world. Loving people and helping them will cause the kingdom to grow and expand. We can combat many ungodly things in this world that really don’t satisfy if we help people to succeed. God has shown us there are many substitutes for kingdom principles that will satisfy only for a little while and then people will be empty and dissatisfied again. We have many empty people in this world that when we help them to succeed will become seeds of joy that will spread into other lives.

5.Blessing will reap rewards even though our motive is to do it because we love God and others.

You were created to be generous and succeed. I read a story about a hazing that was going on in a high school. A reporter from a newspaper was outraged at the lack of moral courage that no one objected and instead they became spectators, participators, and observers in the torment of others. He was outraged that as parents we have failed to teach our children courage to stand against evil.

When we bless others for the right motives God will reward you. You cannot sow into God’s invisible kingdom and not receive a reward for doing good to God, His people, and His kingdom. We will reap whatever we sow the more good we sow into others the more will come back to us. God will bless and keep this covenant principle working in our lives. It will take courage to love and help people in this world and not just be observers of people’s pain and suffering.

6.People can tell how powerful the God you serve and His people are by their generosity because the greater will bless the weaker.

Generosity is one of God’s greatest characteristics. The God of the Bible is grace filled, and generous. He gave His Son as the sacrifice necessary for the forgiveness of our sins. God has promised through that sacrifice to freely give us all things. We need by faith to take the limit off of God. Jesus said If we believe nothing will be impossible to us. Faith taps into the unlimited powers of God to bring His will and His kingdom into the earth. Our lives must reflect God’s generosity by our love, kindness, patience, provision and help to others. The Bible tells us this giving and generosity should be especially generous to our family members and to those of the household of faith. As we are generous we share God’s appreciation for other people. In helping others we share the ministry of God’s love to others. The grace of God is upon His people to even love the unworthy and unlovely that God may lead them to repentance by His goodness. The God of the Bible demonstrated His greatness by His great acts of generosity.

7.Sowing into others is the key to personal, joy, fulfillment, satisfaction, and purpose.

There are many people who are powerful, wealthy, and have great possessions but are miserable. The key to our happiness is ministering to others for God. We come into our true destiny and purposes when we love people and serve them as Christ. We were created to give our lives to others and when we do we find fulfillment for ourselves. We will never be all we can be till we sow into the lives of others. We will never receive all we are to receive until we love others as part of our life.