There are natural laws in this world, like the law of gravity. They always work. If gravity didn’t work, everything would fly up into the sky! There are also spiritual laws. They always work too! One of those laws is the “law of giving and receiving.” Listen to the words of Jesus.
Luke 6:37-38 (KJV)
37 Judge not, and ye shall not be judged: condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned: forgive, and ye shall be forgiven: 38 Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again.
The Bible teaches us these spiritual laws. Jesus told us that there are consequences to our actions. The Bible also tells us that faith itself is an action. Faith is the action that comes when someone really believes. If there is no action to the belief, it is not faith!
If we do not judge others, we will not be judged. On the other hand, if we do judge others, we can expect to be judged. If we condemn others, that condemnation will come right back on us.
Many people have used this law in reference to financial giving and that is part of this but not all. The law of giving and receiving applies to everything we do in this life.
I find something to be very interesting about this passage of scripture. Verse 38 says, “Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, SHALL MEN GIVE INTO YOUR BOSOM. This is the King James translation and most other translations fail to admit this part of the scripture. Part of this law is that God uses people to bless other people. God will not counterfeit money but He will cause others to bring money into your life if you give money. The book of Malachi, the last book in the Old Testament tells us that if we give ten percent of all we make and if we give offerings above and beyond that, God will pour out so many blessings that we cannot receive them all. Jesus also said in Luke that we will receive in relation to the amount we give. If we give a little we shall receive little. If we give much, we shall receive much.
Malachi 3:8-12 (NLT)
8 “Should people cheat God? Yet you have cheated me! “But you ask, ‘What do you mean? When did we ever cheat you?’ “You have cheated me of the tithes and offerings due to me.
9 You are under a curse, for your whole nation has been cheating me. 10 Bring all the tithes into the storehouse so there will be enough food in my Temple. If you do,” says the LORD of Heaven’s Armies, “I will open the windows of heaven for you. I will pour out a blessing so great you won’t have enough room to take it in! Try it! Put me to the test! 11 Your crops will be abundant, for I will guard them from insects and disease. Your grapes will not fall from the vine before they are ripe,” says the LORD of Heaven’s Armies. 12 “Then all nations will call you blessed, for your land will be such a delight,” says the LORD of Heaven’s Armies.
I have literally seen people’s lives turn around for the good when they take the step of faith to trust God’s Word and they begin to give their tithe. You see, God’s Word is true and it doesn’t matter whether we believe it or not. Our belief or disbelief does not change God. It does though, affect our life by what we believe.
Proverbs 11:24-25 (NLT)
24 Give freely and become more wealthy; be stingy and lose everything. 25 The generous will prosper; those who refresh others will themselves be refreshed.
Action: Read Luke 6:37, 38; Malachi 3:8-12 and Proverbs 11:24, 25
- Determine what it is you need. Whatever that is, give that same thing away. If you need love, give love. If you need forgiveness, forgive, etc.
- Test God by committing to give your tithe. Take ten percent of your gross income and give that to your church. Don’t try to figure out how you will be able to make ends meet. God will take care of that. Follow through with your tithe and expect God to prove Himself to you!