In Luke 6:38 I read, “Give, and you will receive. Your gift will return to you in full—pressed down, shaken together to make room for more, running over, and poured into your lap. The amount you give will determine the amount you get back.” (NLT)
When I give from a heart for Jesus, the goal isn’t to get a blessing. But the truth is that God will bless me.
I cannot out-give God. When I learn to be generous like God is generous, he promises that I will end up with more. This is the economy of God.
Sometimes it seems like God is saying: “Let’s see who can out-give the other. You give to me and to other people, and I’ll give to you—and we’ll see who wins.”
And God always wins! He says over and over in Scripture that I will end up with more if I learn to be generous. Sometimes those blessings will be material. But sometimes they’ll be the spiritual blessings that come from a generous heart.
Jesus says, “Give, and you will receive. Your gift will return to you in full—pressed down, shaken together to make room for more, running over, and poured into your lap. The amount you give will determine the amount you get back” (Luke 6:38 NLT).
What is Jesus saying here? Imagine I’m going to a market to buy grain. I bring a burlap sack and pay to have the whole sack filled. As the shop owner is pouring grain, I press it into my sack. Then I gently shake the sack so the grain settles down even more. I want to fit the maximum amount of grain.
Jesus is saying that God’s blessings are the same. When I give generously, he’ll give so generously that I’ll have to make room for more.
He gives in full measure, and then some, when I learn to be generous like him. The way I give to others is the way God will give to me. He wants me to be generous because he wants me to be like him. I can’t become more like Christ without learning to give generously.
This is one of the most important decisions I will make: Is my life going to be about giving away what God has blessed me with? Will it be marked by a joyous desire to grab hold of God’s promises as I let go of the things of this earth?
“The amount I give will determine the amount I get back.” I determine how much God blesses my life.
In summary, Jesus tells me to give, when I do I will receive. In fact my gift will return back to me in a full pressed down manner, shaken together to make room for more, running over, and pouring into my lap. The amount I give will determine the amount I get back. When I give from a heart for Jesus, the goal isn’t to get a blessing. But God will bless me. When I learn to be generous, he promises that I will end up with more. Sometimes those blessings will be material, but other times they’ll be the spiritual blessings that come from a generous heart. When I give generously, he’ll give in return so generously that I’ll have to make room for more. He gives in full measure, and then some. The way I give to others is the way God will give to me. He wants me to be generous because he wants me to be like him. I can’t become more like Christ without learning to give generously. Is my life going to be about giving away what God has blessed me with? Will it be marked by a joyous desire to grab hold of God’s promises as I let go of the things of this earth? “The amount I give will determine the amount I get back.” So in essence, I determine how much God blesses my life.
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