The Philosophy of Giving
By J. S. Washburn
“It is more blessed to give than to receive.” Jesus has here stated the very foundation principle of the gospel—the principle that actuated his ministry and his entire life. He thought it not a thing to be grasped, to be retained, to be on an equality with God. He was rich, but became poor that we through his poverty might be rich. “He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?” “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights.” It is the joy of heaven to give the very joy of the Lord. From the throne of God flows out to all creation forever and ever the swelling flood, the river of life, ever fresh; and in him who receives the Lord by faith there is the well of water springing up to everlasting life, flowing out to refresh the thirsty and dying. Remember that he who would receive from God must give to men. God gives to us that we may give to others. He who refuses to give will no longer receive. All nature in heaven and in earth enforces and illustrates this divine truth. The sun receives the clear shining of the glory of God that he may reflect the light upon his family of worlds. The sun, moon, and stars were made “to give”—to give light by day and by night. The mighty ocean receives the rivers of water in order that from this great reservoir the mists may rise to form the cloud, to give rain on the earth, that the earth may yield her increase to give life to all the living creatures on the earth. Nothing lives or dies to itself. The flower blooms in beauty, sends out her delicate perfume, not for herself, but for man. That which lives not to give, lives in vain. He who does not give wisely and well does not truly live. The science of living is the science of giving. Giving is life. Refusing to give is death. He who does not give will soon cease to receive—will stagnate, die. See that slimy pool, dead, and breeding from death and malaria! Why?—Because it has no outlet. So is he that lives only to himself, who will not give to others, fearing that he himself shall have nothing. But turn from this loathsome death and decay to this gushing, singing, mountain stream, clear as crystal. Why this marvelous difference? I will tell you. The mountain stream forever flows onward, outward. There is an inlet because there is an outlet. There is an inflow because there is an outflow. The stream flows in only as it flows out, and as rapidly as it flows out. This is God’s philosophy of giving and receiving. It is blessed to receive only as we give to others that which is received. He who would have the heavenly riches must sell and give. The Lord sent Elijah to a poor widow, who had just enough food for one last meal for herself and her son, yet in the face of this terrible poverty, the prophet requested that she should make him a “little cake first,” and after that she should make for herself and her son. And as long as she thus made the cause of God, in the person of Elijah, first, so long was there an abundance to preserve her life and the life of her son, while all about them those who lived only for themselves were dying. Truly, in this the Elijah message for to-day, this miracle will be repeated for all who have the faith of Jesus, the translating faith of Elijah. He who has freely received will freely give, and he will receive all that God has for him when he gives all he is and has to the cause and for the cause of God.