WHICH DO YOU ENJOY MORE – GIVING OR RECEIVING?

SCRIPTURE:
Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, 
not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. 
(2 Corinthians 9:7)

MEDITATION:
Have you ever had a time when someone either gave you something totally 
unexpected and extremely nice, or someone did something for you 
that was amazing?
Did you have a feeling that you needed to do something for them in return?
It wasn’t that you wanted to ‘balance the ledger’, 
you were just so appreciative that you wanted to brighten their day 
in the same way they had brightened yours.

You may even start to wonder if it is more exciting to receive something 
special from someone, or to do something special for someone else.
It is no surprise that the scriptures mention the joy in giving.
In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must 
help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: 
‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’ (Acts 20:35)

Think about it, when someone gives you something, 
you want to be sure you show proper appreciation in your response.
However, when you give to someone else, 
you get to enjoy watching their delight.

Would it be any different with God?
First of all, think about what He has given us.
Salvation is the greatest gift we could ever receive, 
although we may not fully appreciate the total value of His gift to us 
until we go to be with Him.
We do know that it will be much better 
than what we can expect without His gift.

Doesn’t it make sense that we would want to give back to Him, 
not to balance the ledger, but out of sincere love and appreciation 
for what He has given us?
We receive the greatest blessing when we give from a spiritual
connection and not as a financial responsibility.
You have heard it said that God doesn’t need our money and He doesn’t, 
however this is a venue He has provided as an opportunity 
to show our love for Him and better connect with Him spiritually.

It is not an obligation, but a chance to express 
our sincere appreciation for the gift He has given us.
It also gives us a way to show Him just how much He means to us.
Even though we cannot see His face, we can imagine 
how it pleases Him to see His children expressing their love for Him.

When we give, we should give with a cheerful attitude and not begrudgingly. 
If we give to Him merely from an obligation, 
and while thinking about how we could use our gift for something else, 
then we have totally missed out on the ‘joy of giving’.

Satan does not want us improving our relationship with the Lord, 
so he will fill our minds with all kinds of thoughts of how we 
could use what we are giving to the Lord, and how we are 
falling behind acquiring the material gains of those we know.
This gives us an opportunity to sincerely trust the Lord 
and His ability to provide much more than Satan could ever deliver.

ACTION:
Have you allowed Satan to dupe you into believing that you should 
hold on to all you have, or perhaps give the Lord 
a token amount possibly from your leftovers?
Instead, try to visualize walking up to the Lord with cheerfulness 
and excitement over His reaction to your gifts for Him.
It is a matter of choice – do you want more ‘things’ 
or do you want to enjoy giving to the Lord and the associated benefits?
If you have never considered it, 
try it for a few months and see the difference.

Pray,
“Heavenly Father, you have given me the greatest gift I could ever receive. 
could never match what you have given me, but out of appreciation and my 
desire to show my love, I want to give back to You. Forgive me for placing 
more importance on the things of this world than on You. Convict me of what 
I should do to experience the joy of improving my relationship with You. 
Remove the negative thoughts that Satan tries to put into my mind, so that 
I can freely and cheerfully give to You. Thank You for the opportunity to 
show my love and appreciation for what You have done for me!”