Taste the Joy!

Recently a friend asked me for some music lessons. This is not something I usually do, but he seemed serious and determined about it, so I agreed. He asked what my rate would be. I hadn’t thought about that, so I decided to do some research first, and discovered that a qualified music teacher can charge up to £25 p/hr!

However something didn’t feel right about charging such a high price, so I waited for several days and pondered the idea. Finally, in a moment of clarity (yes they do happen!), I knew what I should do. I should obey the words of Jesus in Acts 20:35: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’ I was to give my friend lessons for free, not charging a penny.

So I did. I give my friend lessons nearly every week and don‘t charge him a dime (as the Americans say), and even purchased the learning materials myself.

The remarkable thing is that I have learned one of the reasons why Jesus said to give is more blessed than to receive. Of course this seems counter-intuitive to the natural mind, but so do most of God’s ways, so we must just do them anyway, and in the doing we learn by experience why His ways are right and the world’s ways are wrong.

But here is what I discovered: joy!

The joy of giving is much greater than the joy of receiving.

I can’t deny that if someone gave me a million pounds, the keys to a fast and flashy sports car, and my own private yaught, it would make me happy. I could certainly find ways to enjoy those things. But the joy you experience when giving is much greater, and surpasses anything you can experience by receiving.

If I had charged my friend for music lessons, I would be grateful for the extra money and could no doubt find good use for it. But by giving him lessons for free when I have every right to charge for them, I get a joy that cannot be easily explained! It feels so much better, so right and satisfying.

And now I understand why God chose to give us salvation as a free gift. Just think: He had every right to charge us full price for it. And what a price! It is far greater than any of us could every pay. But thank God there is One who could pay it, and did pay it for us, so that we could have it for free. His blessed name is Jesus!

God knows that it is more blessed to give than to receive, and this blessedness is not just the reward you receive for your giving, but they joy you experience when you give. Since God created us in His own likeness and image, and since we are his very own children who partake of His own nature in Christ Jesus, He desires that we too experience the same joy He experiences when we give. In this way we are able to understand our God and Father, to live as He lives and to fulfil His desire to share Himself with His own creation. Hallelujah! What a joy and honour!

So give something to someone in need today. Do for free something that you have every right to charge for. Give away something that you own to bless someone else, and taste the joy! I promise, you’ll not be disappointed!