"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 (NIV)
Luke, the careful researcher and accurate historian who was a travelling companion and the personal physician of the Apostle Paul, recorded here the words of Paul as he spoke and quoted The Lord Jesus. Paul's point was that he did not preach and teach for money, he worked to provide for himself, and to use his earnings to help support the poor. He also encouraged the people to do likewise, because as Jesus said, "It is more blessed to give than to receive."
Too many people today are selfishly concerned with what they will receive, and care very little about giving to help others. This attitude also pervades many of our relationships. We often say that we love our friends, but we are more concerned with what we can get from them, or what they can do for us We use our friends, we don't love them. That is not Christ-like behavior. Jesus was a giving person, and He taught that it was better to give than it was to receive. He loved His friends, he shared information with them (Matthew 5:1-2), he shared food with them (Matthew 14:19-21), and He was willing to give up His life for them. (John 15:13-14) His love was and is more concerned with others than with Himself. Love is kind and it is not self-serving. (1 Corinthians 13:4-7) Love is giving and not concerned about receiving. God is love. (1 John 4:8 and 4:16) It is better, and more Christ-like, to give to others than it is to receive from them.
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