It is sad that so few experience the real joy of living these words out in their lives. Stingy people do not reap the rewards they imagine. The prophet Haggai describes their situation this way: “Ye have sown much, and bring in little; ye eat, but ye have not enough; ye drink, but ye are not filled with drink; ye clothe you, but there is none warm; and he that earneth wages earneth wages to put it into a bag with holes.” They work but they never get anywhere, for all their efforts are going out the bottom of the bag as they work to pour it in at the top.

People who dedicate themselves to working hard and saving for a rainy day often are deprived of the enjoyment of their earnings. The rich man who wanted to build bigger barns rather than sharing his bounty with others was told, “Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided?”

God gives us so much. “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above,” and we should be willing to share what we have been given. Paul’s advice to the Corinthians was, “Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.”

Not only does God love a cheerful giver, but also He gives a blessing so that the more we give the more we seem to receive. Malachi records God’s challenge to His people to test His principle of giving when he said, “Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house, and try me now in this, says the LORD of hosts, if I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you such blessing that there will not be room enough to receive it.”

The principle works both ways as we find in Luke’s gospel record where Jesus told his disciples, “Take heed therefore how ye hear: for whosoever hath, to him shall be given; and whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken even that which he seemeth to have.”

The truth of the Lord’s remarks is borne out in our lives. Those who have faith seem to grow in faith; those who love seem to be greatly loved; those who have this world’s goods and share them with others seem to have more than ever. However, those who have little faith seem to lose what little they have; those who show no love become even more hard and calloused, and those who are stingy seem to have less and less of the very money that they love.

In Jesus’ parable about the pounds, after rewarding the servants who had gained pounds, the Lord dealt with the wicked servant who had buried his pound, “And he said unto them that stood by, Take from him the pound, and give it to him that hath ten pounds. (And they said unto him, Lord, he hath ten pounds.) For I say unto you, That unto every one which hath shall be given; and from him that hath not, even that he hath shall be taken away from him.”

The ones who had, received more, the one who did not have, even what little he had was taken away from him. The principle stands. God is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or think, according to His power that is at work within us. There is joy in giving that those who are stingy never experience. They really do not know what they are missing..

Paul tells us, “And remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that he said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’”

Since God loves a cheerful giver, blesses those who give, and rewards givers with that special joy that comes from giving pleasure to others, truly, we need to put this lesson into practice. Let us daily look for opportunities to give to others. The saying “You get more than you give when you give more than you get,” is scripturally sound.

Let us accept the challenge God gave us in Malachi, for we cannot out give God -- watch Him open the windows of heaven to pour out His blessings upon us. Jesus was right when he said, “It is more blessed to give than to receive.”