Give and Receive

He who has pity on the poor lends to the Lord, and He will pay back what he has given. Proverbs 19:17

I have shown you in every way, by laboring like this, that you must support the weak. And remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that He said, “It is more blessed to give than to receive.” Acts 20:35

Making someone else happy makes you happy. 

We don’t throw the ball to the dog because it makes us happy. We throw the ball to the dog because it makes the dog happy and by making the dog happy, we become happy ourselves. We acquire the emotional state we want by giving it to others and letting them experience that emotion first as we catch what we throw out. We become happy by making other people happy. When we lend a smile to others, we get one back ourselves. By seeking to give happiness, we receive more happiness than we could by seeking to acquire happiness directly. We don’t lose anything by giving, we simply lend what we have and trust God to return to us what is good.

You are both a shepherd and a sheep.

We are responsible for caring for those that are under our leadership, but we are also under Christ’s leadership and care. We learn to lead others out of the practice of learning to follow - starting from human authorities and gradually from following Christ. We can only lead as well as we learn how to follow; we become as happy as we make others; and we can only care for others when we have been cared for ourselves. Because the Good Shepherd blesses us and cares for us, we are more blessed when we give out of what He has given us than when we receive from the hands of mere men.

You don’t have to agree with someone to love them. 

As we care for others, we fulfill the law of Christ (Galatians 6:2). “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8). Just as the Good Shepherd loves everyone, so we also ought to love others whether or not they are our friends or enemies. We receive a blessing by giving (Matthew 5:38-48). It doesn’t matter who we give to, we receive the blessing of giving by the act of giving. When we shepherd others, we find that God’s shepherding love for us becomes more real in our life. As we lend to the poor and support the weak, we throw away any notion we might have that we are self-sufficient, not needing the Lord’s care for us first and foremost.