Give and it shall be given
Luke 6:38
27 “But to you who are listening I say: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, 28 bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. 29 If someone slaps you on one cheek, turn to them the other also. If someone takes your coat, do not withhold your shirt from them. 30 Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back. 31 Do to others as you would have them do to you.
32 “If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them. 33 And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners do that. 34 And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, expecting to be repaid in full. 35 But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. 36 Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.
Judging Others
37 “Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. 38 Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”
Ok, once again, let’s look at one of the most misquoted scriptures in the bible, Luke 6:38. If you are like me, you have heard Luke 6:38 spoken time and time again, and usually it has been used during the giving money portion of the service. However, this scripture has so much more in it then just giving money, so let’s get into it:
1. First, n the judging part, Jesus is not saying not judge, He is teaching the principle of sowing and reaping here, which is the context of this verse. So, if you don’t want to be judged, then don’t judge others. However, he never said we never could.
2. Also, this verse (Luke 6:38) is so much more than just giving money. Look at the context starting all the way back in verse 27. It’s all to do with how we treat people, how we treat people, what we do and how we do it, and the we all reap what we sow in what we do. So, look at what Jesus is saying here, let’s go back to verse 27 and read forward:
3. Pray for people who mistreat you, go the extra mile for those that do you wrong, the “golden rule”, love your enemies, do this so your reward will be great in heaven, judge not so you yourself won’t be judged, (sowing and reaping), then finally give, which again, is in context of sowing and reaping. So, what’s my point?
4. This verse is not just a blessing verse as it pertains sowing and reaping. So many churches have used it, and like we said, during giving tithes and offerings part of the service, but in context, Jesus was talking about sowing and reaping in how we treat people. So, in context then, this verse is not JUST a blessing verse but also a warning. How so?
5. Think about it. What Jesus is saying here is if we sow meanness, meanness will come back to us, pressed down, shaken, together, and RUNNING OVER meanness will come back to us! If we are rude, rudeness will come back running over, it will come back to us, etc. See that? Why is that?
6. Because in sowing and reaping, the harvest is always greater than the seed sown, the seed that was sown, was very small, but a small seed can produce a huge harvest. So, if we sow bad character, bad characters/character will be in our lives, pressed down, shaken together, running over etc. So how are we treating people? What seeds are we sowing? If it’s bad seed, our harvest will be bad and it will ALWYS be worse than what you dished out! So, this is also a warning! However, I have almost never heard it preached that way. Again, mainly because, the only time we hear this text, is during the giving money portion of the service; which is a huge disservice to this text, see what I did there? LOL!
Closing Prayer: God, thank You for Your Word. Forgive me Lord for using this verse and others for using this verse, as a means to pimp You every time we give as if this verse is always taking about money. Forgive us for using it in such a way that guarantees money to always flow in my life, forgive me for my materialism and using this verse in this way. Forgive me chasing the gifts instead of the giver, chasing stuff and blessings instead of You, Yourself. Forgive us for chasing Your hands instead of Your face and presence. Forgive us for wanting Your stuff instead of wanting You and using this verse for that. Not that blessings and stuff are bad, but if we want them more than You, they are idols that need to be put down. So, we repent, In Jesus’ name, Amen!
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