We can give only what we have received. We can give much or we can give little. Giving much is possible when we have been given much. Giving little does not mean we have been given little. For we can only give to the extent that we have received, and we can give much of, or little of, what we have been given.
“Freely you have received, freely give,” Jesus tells us in Matthew 10:8, referring to all the powers that God has given us. We can give nothing outside of the ability and the capacity that God has given us. Everything that we have, everything that we can do, is a gift from God, given by God.
The Bible says that every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights (James 1:17). The ability to even distinguish between right and wrong, to make moral choices, to discern good and evil — all of this comes from God, and we each possess this ability. How much and what we do with such ability determines whether we are living in accordance with the truth, that is, truth according to God.
The Bible is given to the world as the Word of God. It is the source of truth. “Sanctify them by the truth; Your word is truth,” Jesus prayed to his Father for us (recorded in John 17:17). The word sanctify means to be set apart for God, to be dedicated to God. The truth of God sets us apart for Him, separating us from the untruths and lies in this world, by which we can be easily deceived and led to live a life we will later regret.
A liberated person lives a life in which he or she is able to give generously. The truly liberated person is one who knows the truth. Jesus says of those who have believed in him: “Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” (John 8:32). The freedom that Jesus speaks of here is a freedom from slavery to sin. Sin is not merely disobedience to God but also a rejection of God and His truth. Jesus says, “If the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed” (John 8:36).
Jesus is the Son of God, and believing in him sets us free to not only not sin, but to have eternal life.
God is the Supreme Giver. Jesus declares that God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, so that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life (John 3:16). Knowing that we have eternal life liberates us from being trapped in a limited worldview that this world is all we have. It enables us to see that the kingdom of God is much more expansive than the world, and that the true Owner of all things in this world and beyond it is God.
Knowing that all we have comes from God frees us to not cling on to things, to not hoard. It frees us to give freely, just as we have freely received. If we think that it was our intelligence, smarts, wisdom or personal qualities that make us successful, we should also recognise that any and all of our abilities are given us by God. If we think we lack wisdom and ability to make it in life, let us take heed of the promise in the Word of God: If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you (James 1:5).
The Bible tells us in Luke 21:1–4 that at the temple in Jerusalem, Jesus saw the rich putting their gifts into the treasury, and also saw a poor widow who put in two small copper coins. Commending her, Jesus said, “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all the others. All these people gave their gifts out of their wealth; but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on.” We often see in the media philanthropy and charitable deeds being described as acts of “giving back” to society. But in God’s economy, our giving is not regarded as a “giving back” to God. “I have no need of a bull from your stall or of goats from your pens, for every animal of the forest is mine, and the cattle on a thousand hills,” is what God says in Psalm 50:9–10 in the Old Testament, where we read of animal sacrifices to God.
Nothing of what we have in this world truly belongs to us. The Old Testament character Job said it well for us all: “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will depart. The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away; may the name of the LORD be praised.” (Job 1:21) We will all lose all that we possess in this world when we depart from it, and as such, it makes little sense to hang on to our possessions for dear life.
Whilst we often associate giving with money, there is much more that can be given. I have written this because I have been given the gospel — the good news about Jesus Christ for me and for you. The gospel is the greatest gift we have been given. Through the gospel, we receive eternal life. Through the gospel, we become children of God. Through the gospel, we receive real riches stored in heaven waiting for us. Through the gospel, we have a real gift to give to everyone.
We are all invited to receive this gift. After having received it, we are then to freely give it to others. Everybody needs this gift.