Give and Given

Bible Study

Luke 6:38 ESV

I John 4:7-10 MSG

Series: God Gives

Several times in the New Testament scripture refers to a similar concept of receiving what we give. In some instances it sounds like an equal exchange but in the Gospel of Luke it says when we give we will receive abundance in return.

Luke 6:38 says, “give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you.”

When I was younger I assumed that means if I gave a bracelet away I would receive two or three bracelets in return. That’s just a silly example, but I assumed it was an exchange of goods.

It didn’t enter my mind that Jesus was speaking of love and kindness or being  a friend and receiving a friend. As I grew older I came to realize that while God could give a bracelet for a bracelet, that would not always be the best gift according to God.

Scripture indeed tells us in 1 John 4:7-10, “My beloved friends, let us continue to love each other since love comes from God. Everyone who loves is born of God and experiences a relationship with God. The person who refuses to love doesn’t know the first thing about God, because God is love—so you can’t know him if you don’t love. This is how God showed his love for us: God sent his only Son into the world so we might live through him. This is the kind of love we are talking about—not that we once upon a time loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to clear away our sins and the damage they’ve done to our relationship with God.”

Loving sounds easy, doesn’t it?

It’s not always easy. I’m not so old as to forget what it’s like to be a thirteen year old girl. I say a girl because I remember trying to get along with girls in my class, especially when clear groups had formed (today we call those a cliche). There were times when girls ostracized group members when they befriended someone from another group.

Young girls I’ve known suffered as well. My sons didn’t seem to have the same struggles. They really didn’t care what anyone thought.

Somewhere along the line I figured out that I needed to pray and be a trail blazer…be the first to love and laugh.

In college culture classes we studied about what we can learn from people from other cultures and I thought that was wonderful. Being a friend to someone from another culture meant when I gave friendship to someone from another culture, and I received gifts of learning, knowledge, and expansion of thought processes. It really is surprising what we can learn from other cultures.

It turns out it’s also very scriptural as we know from Luke 6:38.

In time I learned the gifts I received from loving someone was so much more abundant than material or monetary gifts.

Those gifts don’t last.

Love on the other have gives and gives and gives abundantly.

AND when we give the gift of love and understanding we receive love and understanding.

When we give the gift of accepting cultural differences and we make an effort to understand what their culture teaches, we receive the gift of understanding…often abundantly.

Ultimately love begets love.

Understanding begets understanding.

Both are absolutely the best gift we can receive.

Deborah

acrazyjourney.com