More Blessed to Give Than to Receive

He says that this is a command of the Lord: “For he himself,” that is, the Lord Jesus, “said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’” That is, the generosity of the giver is more blessed than the need of the receiver, when the gift is not supplied from money kept back through unbelief or lack of faith, nor from the hoarded treasures of greed, but is produced from the fruits of our own labor and honest toil. So “it is more blessed to give than to receive,” because the giver, though he shares the poverty of the receiver, still works hard with devoted care to provide by his own toil not only enough for his own needs but also something to give to one in want. And so he is adorned with a double grace. By giving away all his goods he achieves perfect renunciation for Christ’s sake, and yet by his labor and forethought he shows the generosity of the rich. In this way he honors God by his honest labors and gathers for him the fruits of his righteousness. Another man, softened by sloth and idle laziness, proves himself unworthy of food by the apostle’s saying, since he takes it in idleness against his command, not without the guilt of sin and obstinacy. [a]