Giving, the Essence

But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth: (Matthew 6:3)

I feel it is important to revisit this topic, especially after some lessons from on high even as I have gone through some experiences.

As I have always said, free does not mean without cost. It simply means that someone else bore the cost of what we receive free.

Yet many people do not think or especially behave like this is the truth.

Have you seen the scramble for something that is being offered free? Ever seen the gorging to the point of indigestion and swollen tummies when there is a freeloaders’ party even on those who are not normally freeloaders? Ever heard how people who never go beyond a beer or two will clear a crate when someone else is footing the bill?

Many people behave (some even confess) that the one offering free things for whatever reason is a fool.

One lady went to a farmer neighbor and confessed to having no food for her children.

The neighbor asked her to go to his farm and take some maize to cook for her children.

Imagine she was boasting of the fact that she really harvested, much of it to sell!

That is one misconception I want us to deal with here.

Free simply means that someone is paying or bearing the cost of what you are receiving for free.

Cheap grace as it is called is guided by this misconception. It thus treats grace as a worthless gift that I pick next to the trash heap.

But grace was paid for by blood, the sinless blood of the holy Son of God. It pained Christ and His Father to extend that grace to us.

Grace rightly applied is allergic to sin since it has as its guiding principle the cost of the same.

That is why Paul said we were bought at a price. And what a price!

The second misconception I want us to deal with is the fact that a gift depends on the recipient. Nothing could be farther from the truth.

Free is the overflow of the nature of the giver.

Let me give the example of a father.

A father does not educate his children because they deserve it. We could be talking rights this or the other but the plain fact is that a father will educate his children because that is the overflow of his nature, or in other terms it is his name on the block.

A father might enjoy educating one child over the other because of their relationship to him. But he will educate them anyway.

A father does not sell his land or livestock, things he values greatly, because the children deserve it. He is simply being a responsible father.

That is why even the dullest children (I wonder who sets the standard) will also get educated though they might be just pushing the years.

No child deserves an inheritance. It simply is the nature of a father to give it as nothing stops him from gorging himself on it till his death so that the children can then share the scraps as some fathers have done over the years.

The long and short of what I am saying is that giving is the prerogative of the giver and it would be wise for us to appreciate the same as we deal with God

The other important point I want to make is that giving is never barter trade. It is free or it stops being a gift. The only condition on the recipient is to receive.

Let me give a recent example.

I live among small farms, all that surround me have owners living far away.

It means that they are unable to take their maize stalks with them when they need to clear their land.

One such neighbor offered me her maize stalks. I was grateful and offered to take them when I get the opportunity.

Two days later she came to me wondering (actually quarrelling) why I had not cut and carried them. Of course, I told her I was busy.

‘You can’t take them if I cut them’, is what she told me.

She later burnt the whole lot, as if I could have taken them anyway.

This gets us to the point I am making. She was looking for someone to clear her land and thought the pretext of giving was the shortest way of doing it.

I wouldn’t have minded helping her as much, but her spirit was wrong on the point of giving.

A day later another neighbor came and cleared her land and called me, asking whether I needed the stalks.

When I said yes, she told me to pick them.

Yet another neighbor gave me the stalks and I comfortably cleared her farm to get them yet I did not in the least feel used. I simply received the gift and that required some work on my side as opposed to a condition and deadline being set on me to receive the same.

I hope you get my point.

How I receive does not in any way reflect on the nature of the giver. Yet the giver giving conditions on my receiving may actually be barter trade. They do this and I do something else and we meet in the middle.

Is that how we give?

What lessons do we need to get here?

The first is gratitude.

We can effectively be able to appreciate grace or any other gift when we know that it is at a cost to somebody. We will not be shouting entitlement.

Let me give a Biblical example.

Remember the ten lepers Christ healed? Why did only one come back with gratitude? Why did the rest not think it important to follow him?

They were Jews and ‘knew’ that grace belonged to them. A miracle was therefore their due.

The Samaritan was different. He knew that as a foreigner, being with Jewish lepers was a privilege. Receiving healing was therefore way beyond his dreams. He therefore could not receive that grace silently as if nothing had happened.

Again remember the other Samaritan Jesus gave a parable about.

The Jew who was injured did not deserve anything from him. He probably would not have accepted it had he been in a position to make any choice. He probably felt defiled after healing when he learnt that he was rescued by a Samaritan and could have spat on him had they met elsewhere.

Yet that did not stop that Samaritan from extending grace to an enemy in need.

The second is when we give.

It should be the overflow of our hearts and not the promptings of somebody or something else.

That is why Christ said we should not let our left hand know what our right hand gives since it is an overflow of our heart.

Third is our expectation when we give.

We should stop placing demands and expectations on the people we give. Their receiving is enough reward for our gift.

We should not be offended if our gift is not appreciated or was abused since that was not our purpose for giving.

Be wise in your giving if you must. Otherwise keep quiet after you give.

I have given Bibles to people who have sold them. I have made Audio Bibles that were converted into completely opposite of what I had intended for. Yet that is not a big problem to me.

First because it is God who had not only given me, but had also prompted me to give to the persons concerned. And their abuse of the gift does not in any way interfere with my Source.

Some have insulted me after I have lifted them from hopeless situations. But I receive the same with gratitude since that is some evidence that my ministry has been able to make someone stand on their own.

Never allow a recipient determine how you will give since they were not there when you decided to give.

Finally, allow God to guide your giving, and of course receiving.