It Is More Blessed to Give than to Receive (Acts 20:35)

2022-12-05

In his farewell address to the Ephesian elders, the apostle Paul told them, “I have shewed you all things, how that so labouring ye ought to support the weak, and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, It is more blessed to give than to receive” (Acts 20:35).

One of the fundamentals of Christianity is to be like Christ, who left the riches of heaven, pouring out His life unto death. He died for sinners: people who did not deserve His salvation (all of us). We have the exact same calling as the Lord. “...every one that is perfect shall be as his master” (Luke 6:40).

Supporting the weak is not a new commandment. Helping widows, orphans, foreigners, and others in need was a command that people were to take very seriously. Jesus Christ raises the bar by giving His own life as an example.

Here, the commandment is to take part of what is ours so we can support other people who cannot do so. Paul received this commandment from the Lord Jesus, which is not recorded in the Gospels.

The critic will say that Jesus never said this because it is not quoted in the Gospels. Yet other critics criticize Paul because He never quoted Jesus as recorded in the Gospels (except for where Paul in 1 Timothy 5:8 quotes Jesus in Luke 10:7). That is because Paul did not follow Jesus during His earthly ministry; He met the risen Lord Jesus after His ascension, and he even went up to third heaven at some point.

Why all the critics? Because people want to discredit the Word of God, reject the Lord Jesus, and not give to the weak, as it says here. People do not want to give away what is theirs. We all do this to some degree. There is fear that we might not have enough for ourselves, which is my main worry. What if we fall on hard times, lose our jobs, or have sudden catastrophic expenses? There is also greed where we want more stuff. We may even have disdain for people in need because somehow, we think they deserve their plight.

There is always more repentance where we need to help others more. We need to keep learning what John the Baptist meant when he said, “He must increase, but I must decrease” (John 3:30). Let us think about this as we meditate on the Son of God who left His riches for the manger.