Is it better to give than to receive?

"In everything I showed you that by working hard in this manner you must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that He Himself said, 'It is more blessed to give than to receive.'" ( Acts 20:35, NASB ) That came directly from the Bible Giving should always be a joy. When it says more blessed to give, it's when we see the receiving end who's in need that not only appreciates but are overjoyed by what they receive because they never expected it, we the giver are more blessed compared to the receiver in terms of how we feel. But of course there are those who take things for granted & you being a smart cookie wouldn't willingly go to the robber's den & GIVE to the robbers right? That's just plain silly. So in giving, we need to be like the wise farmer who sows into good ground, when he sows he expects a harvest, not in that he's greedy but in that he's being wise & being a good steward for the things that's placed under his care

As you have mentioned, it really depends. Not that anyone doesn't want to get even at least an ounce of recognition out of the efforts that they do, though they already get recognition from those that they help out by giving.. however the kind of recognition is still questionable if it would be gratitude or what others get irritated when their beneficiaries become too dependent. For looking at it at a different angle, if you would be the one at the giving end of the relationship, it would also mean that you have enough to share to those who don't have. Being at that state is already good since your not the one who is in need and wouldn't be troubled with the depth of gratitude. If your the one who receives, it would obviously contrast in state with the one who is giving. Being the one who receives implies one's state of not having and depedence on those who could provide the things that one needs. Sure, some don't get recognized for helping out others but, it is still preferable to give to be the one giving than the one receiving.

You are right in your opinion that even a generous person would one day get tired of showing his/her generousity. Having said that I believe in giving rather than taking, if you are going to give me one gift, I'll make sure that I return to you two gifts.....because I feel that it is always in our hands to 'give' and we can do it at our own liberty. On the other hand, we just cannot ask others to 'give' us something, it is in their hands and it is their discretion. I do not regret, if I have done some favours to someone or have given something to someone and I do not get anything in return, in that case I console myself by saying - "I did the right thing to her/him, I did not wrong". Very good post!

Hi ya aisaellis I am more of a giver than receiver. I do get to the point sometimes that when the person I continuely give to doesn't reciprocate I will eventually stop. I try not to be like others who don't give but there is only so much time you can go on giving for!!

I think the terms "better to give than to receive" is a custom amongst people in the world. It has been inherited from one generation to another. It's good because it's an honesty sign where you only giving and contribute without hoping for any reply.It's same like teaching profession. Teacher always giving all that their have to their students without hoping the students will pay them back. By the way, it's all going back to every individual on how they oversee this matter. I truly respect your opinion on this but for me it still better to give than to receive. It doesn't mean that I dont want to receive anything from anyone but I believes that even the person that receives from us is not appreciate it, there always be someone else who will contribute back to us.

hi aisaellis,for me, i think it depends upon the situation.who wouldn't like to be a giver.id like to give and continue giving if i can afford to give.im kinda a giver especially when there's an occasion and if i have xtra in my pocket and i don't expect in return.but you were absolutely right sometimes its really irritating when someone doesn't know how to appreciate whatever they recieve and doesn't even know the word thank you..btw i added to my friends i hope you accept :)

Yes its better to give.But nowadays people will take advantage of it and never give it back.I find some people coming to me saying"When you become a big man you should give me something"I always think about it but when i am in troubled times no one helps me out.We can give to people who urgently need money and not take back.We should not give money for people who waste it.

What you said is right but still your in attitude that when ever you give anything you expect something . Nothing wrong by giving whom does not have anything but there affections are always for you. As you said some people are there who gets from us but later cheats us . I have a friend who use to get money from me when ever he asks i use to give.One day he asked for money to as he asked for money for unwanted things i refused to give later he said to other friend and said to aks to me i gave money to him later they both exchanged money . Later only came to know all was his plan . than i stopped to carry money with me and refused to give money without valid reason . Take Care

As others have pointed out, we can fully appreciate this quotation when we give with the real essence of giving - that is providing for others without expecting something in return. Yes, real givers don't mind if they can't receive any "thank you" and some are even helping unanimously. They don't even try to check if the help they gave were used appropriately. However, before they give, they always think whether their help will be used for good. They always evaluate whether what they intended to do will really help others. That way, they have no second thoughts that they are helping the right way and for good reasons. I do hope that in the future when we are giving or helping, we are just like those givers who never think of what they can receive in return but make sure that they are helping for good reasons.

many say that "its better to give than to receive" but after giving if we go dis appointed without an acknowledgement, it will be a huge blow for the givers... but mostly i found many are interested only in receiving rather than giving... even im being interested in receiving....but i will give when i have... this is the fact...human minds will tend to give when it has more, but it becomes unable to give when it dont have sfficient to give...but we are generally tend to receive any time... happy mylotting...

I am not a Saint and I would not blindly go on giving and giving, without receiving anything. Those days are gone now when people had self respect and thought of giving it back. Today, it is all about money. If you are rich, you will have many friends and if you are not, then you would struggle to find even one. There are some people who are very close to me, i.e. my family, for whom I would not care how much I keep on giving. But for all others, I'm sorry, I am a human being so I would not go on giving endlessly.

HI1 life is a combination of give and take. There must be reciprocation if else no relation would last for a long time save the relation between siblings and parents. All other relations are subject to change.

i have a different perspective on the saying "it is better to give than to receive". my family is not really rich but we could afford the simple luxuries from time to time. relatives who are in need come to us for help. when i was growing up, my dad told me that God gave us a little extra so that we could help our relatives who are not fortunate like us. Most of my relatives live in the province and manages only to finish high school. They are not completely bum. They have work but most of the time the money they earn are not enough especially when someone gets sick. He told me that it is better that we extend help, better that we give, rather than be on the receiving end. with that point of view, i have been very thankful that God never ceases to make our life more comfortable, that God continuously give us the ability to be on the giving end.

i think its a good saying, in todays world if we dont give anything than dont accept anything from any one else this has become the rule of the world and i think out of all the rules this is the rule which no one breaks.

You see Aisa, unless there is a receiving, there can never be a giving. What we give somebody is at the same time received by that person. So also what we receive from somebody is at the same time given to us by that person. So giving as well as receiving are the reciprocals of each other. And there is a rule of Nature, "In order to receive something more, we shall have to give first a little!" So in no case, we should stop giving as well as receiving. If we shall be able to give a little, then also we can be able to receive more and thus in turn we shall give and receive more further! This is cyclic. Thanks for this nice posting and have a good giving as well as receiving day!

I remember the years when im saying to "Expectation is the root cause of all the problems" so better to give then to expect anything. But its not workable to any, not in where im living, or can apply to home and nor in any friend. It always easy to say high funda lines of living but pratical life is very much different from these things. how can we expect from friend that he/she not expect then wht is meant for friendship then? we are not from that ages when expectation means greed of the person.we are young enough learning to live and earning too.wht you think abt this.

I honestly think I prefer giving than receiving - and it only matters a little if the other person acknowledges and appreciates my efforts. I think that the very fact that I CAN give is already a sort of 'reward' for me. It just shows how much more blessed I am than the other :) Thanks for the response on my discussion!

The words "It is better to give than to receive" is not worse than the word "it is better to receive than to give......it ecourage us to extend our hands for persons that need help. of course, we have the right to do or not..But if we want to receive more help, we must remember the gratitude and try to repay it.

It is really a blessing for me to give more than receiving. It is not because you are asking something in return my dear, it is because you have a heart which is happy when you give more even if you don't expect something in return. What you sow is what you will reap. If you give love, you will reap it. If you give a blessing to others, it will come back to you, not only in terms of money, but blessing in health, in spiritual things and more. People normally expects money or material things in return when they give something. But when you give more than what you have, it is God that sees you and He will be our rewarded. Don't be tired of doing good to others.

Well I evenbelieve it a lot, You should only give and mustn't wait for somebody to return you for that...That shud be our funda of lives...