10/10/2010

Give, And It Shall Be Given Unto You

By The WindChime

Giving is universally recognized as a heroic trait. The measure of a genuine giving spirit is its willingness and ability to give even beyond what it is willing to give freely without any thought of receiving a reward.

Someone with great wisdom once said, "Give and give until it hurts; for if your giving costs you no pain, what makes it different from the rest?" The author was talking about sacrificial giving which is a trademark of a genuine giving spirit.

Only genuine godly love can empower a person to have the wisdom and strength to give beyond what he/she is willing to freely give without any expectation of reward. Genuine godly love is solely the motivation behind every act of genuine kindness. When it sees an opportunity for showing love, it gives willingly and freely without counting the cost and without expecting any reward.

The cosmos operates under divine principles and one of which is the principle of reciprocity. In science this particular principle is stated as follows: "For every action there is a reaction." In the common philosophical language it is popularly acclaimed as follows: "What you sow, is what you reap."

In the area of giving, the principle of reciprocity works just as perfectly fine. Because genuine godly love is authored by heaven itself, those who live by it cannot escape its overwhelming reciprocating effect. In heaven's economy, LOVE is the only currency and GIVING is its sole medium of exchange and TRUE PROSPERITY is but merely a side effect. True Prosperity may be defined as the state of being in grace where nothing is lacking and all needs met and provided for, contrasted with being in the state of materialism and over-indulgence.

The principle of reciprocity operates as a two-way street -- one way goes from one party to another party, and another way goes in the reverse direction. In the economy of genuine godly giving, there is a giver and there is a receiver. At any one time, a person with godly genuine love is the giver, and at other times he/she is the receiver. Like any other normal transaction, it functions in the give-and-take way. In times when a person is at the giving end, it gives him/her the opportunity to master genuine godly kindness. At other times when a person is at the receiving end, it gives him/her the opportunity to master genuine godly humility. In all of the times, every party who is taking part in the interaction is merely exercising his/her genuine godly love.

Therefore, to a genuine godly giving spirit operating within the heavenly economy, it is not only BETTER to give, but more so, it is both BEST to give as well as to receive because it teaches both kindness and humility -- godly kindness when you give, and godly humility when you receive.

“Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over, will be given to you. For with the same measure you measure it will be measured back to you.” (Luke 6:38)

That is the Divine Principle of Reciprocity.

Here is one thinker's thought embodying also an essence of that principle: "No one can shout at a mountain range in one direction without hearing an echo from all directions."

The truth of the verse in Luke 6:38 holds true for the good or positive things we do to others. For instance: Show kindness to one person one way, and there will be ten or more people who will show you kindness in various unexpected ways.

But perhaps what most of us fail to realize is that the truth in Luke's verse also holds perfectly true for every bad or negative things we do to others. For instance: Hurt or be unkind to one person one way, and there will be ten or more people who will hurt or be unkind to you in various unexpected ways.