You Have Not Because You Give Not

By Sharon Frame
This week's topic: The Importance Of Giving

She sits alone at lunch time in a crowded cafeteria. She turns down every invitation to socialize with friends. She won’t reach out to others if it means driving out of her way. It’s simply too inconvenient.
She calls no one. So her phone hardly rings. It’s a selfish, self-centered life she leads. Yet she wonders why she’s so lonely; why it seems no one loves her. No one cares. 

Weekends and holidays are the hardest. Her birthdays pass without a gift or even a card from family or friends. Sickness visits, and no one is there to comfort or take her to the doctor. Many nights she cries herself to sleep. What she fails to realize is she has created this sad, empty life. She has not, because she gives not. 
The Bible clearly instructs us to give. It’s for good reason. As we give, we bless others. But giving also creates the channel through which goodness flows in our own life. Simply put, your level of giving triggers your level of getting. It isn’t that we give hoping to get. Giving and getting are two sides of the same coin. You can’t give without getting. You can’t get without giving. It’s a universal principal.
Paul explains it in Galatians 6:7: “Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows.”
Luke 6:38 tells us to “Give, and you will receive. Your gift will return to you in full--pressed down, shaken together to make room for more, running over, and poured into your lap. The amount you give will determine the amount you get back."
So, if you give little “amount,” expect to get little back. If you want to cure your bout with loneliness, offer company and comfort to someone else. That wonderful act of charity alone will cheer you up!
You say you love Jesus and are anxious to get the deeper things of God. Give more time to personal bible study. If you want genuine friends, give of your time to cultivate meaningful relationships. It won’t be convenient. It won’t be easy. It can’t be self-centered.
Such giving is rooted in love. So perhaps we have not because we love not. Love compels us to be givers. What better demonstrates that than Jesus’ sacrifice on the Calvary? “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son.” John 3:16.
It was not convenient. It was not easy. It was not self-centered. It was sacrificial. Giving often calls for sacrifice.
Have you ever felt as though you were constantly giving and getting nothing in return? You may be the one who is first to forgive after a fight with your spouse. Perhaps you are the designated encourager in your youth or single’s group. You sacrifice your time to pray for and edify others. But when you need a pick-me up, no one is there with a shoulder for you to cry on. It’s tough. But Paul encourages us in Galatians 6:9, saying, “Don’t get weary in well doing.” Remember your ultimate reward comes from God, not from man.
So don’t seek to get. See to give. Give unselfishly and you’ll reap abundance in return. Give love and you’ll never be in short supply of it. Give friendship and you’ll never be without support and fierce loyalty.
Let it not be said of you: “you have not because you give not.”