"Purity of Giving"

As the old saying goes, “It is better to give than to receive.” But do we also know that in giving, God loves and requires a cheerful heart? In 2 Corinthians 9:7 it says, “Do not give grudgingly or under compulsion.” This passage is to check the motives of our heart. And it continues to say, “If we give with a pure heart, GOD makes His grace abound in us.” Yes there is a reward! But this should not be the reason for our good deeds. Pure giving does not expect anything in return. True giving should come from a heart abounding in love, desiring to give oneself for the benefit of the recipient. This means thinking less of one’s own benefit and sometimes giving up one’s personal needs to meet the need of the other - to the extent of dying to oneself and giving up the comfort you have in order to meet the need of a brother.

To give is not just to share what you have at hand, but to give a part of you. Take, for example, the story of Elijah and the widow whom God chose to provide for Elijah in the time of drought. (1 Kings 17:8) The widow, having the last handful of flour and few drops of oil reserved for her son and herself as their last meal, consented to bake it for the servant of God, denying her son’s need and her own. She embraced the call of God to be the provision for God’s servant. And in her act of sacrificial giving, God rewarded her with flour in the bowl that never got exhausted and oil in the jar that never got empty. This is giving. But nothing compares to the perfect example of GIVING OF ALL — Our SAVIOR, dying on the cross for all just to bring salvation to you and me ... never minding the unbearable pain, never minding the shame...HE took it all to GIVE us life in abundance, not expecting anything in return... the PUREST GIVING!