More Blessed to Give Than to Receive?

The foundation of our Crossroads Career approach is based on love:  loving God completely, loving ourselves correctly, and loving others compassionately.  Literally every step of our Crossroads Career process stems from one of those cornerstones.

Today I’d like to go a bit deeper into how we can love others compassionately, and the avenue I’m taking is yet another Biblical paradox found in Acts 20:35 where the Apostle Paul states, “In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said:  ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’”

I remember as a child thinking, “How in the world can that make any sense?!?  I loved getting gifts and anything that fulfilled a desire that I had.   Of course, I didn’t really enjoy sharing or, perish the thought, of giving away anything that I possessed.  

As I’ve gotten older, I’ve experienced and realized more fully this paradox. I’ve also realized I’ve still got a long way to go with it.  It has dawned upon me that the statement isn’t just about money…it’s about every aspect of life and has led me to establishing one of my core values around it:  “stewardship – paying blessings forward.”   

Think for a moment about all that you and I have received over the years.  Our thoughts probably go to tangible possessions…but if we reflect more deeply, we might encounter words like talent, skills, insights, grace, mercy, forgiveness, wisdom, joy, energy, alignment, unity, love, and peace.  Many words that are difficult to quantify definitionally.  

Yet whenever someone has attributed being “given” those intangible gifts from me, I’ve felt more fulfilled than whenever I’ve actually given a tangible gift.  Hmmmm.  🙂

Applications:  1) As we celebrate the world’s movement of Giving Tuesday today, I pray that each of us might be able to participate in helping others tangibly.   2) As we enter the Christmas Advent, I pray that we will contribute to intangibles we can give to others through the love of Christ.  3) As you may be experiencing job transition, I pray that you’ll intentionally look for ways to give to others as you network for that next role.

For the month of December, we’ll be going deeper in the topic of networking, both with practical application on “how to” and the ways you can “love others compassionately” in the midst of it.  At Crossroads Career, we’re committed to helping you attain a life-changing job hunt, and I believe that objective cannot be fully achieved without giving to others.   Blessings!

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Dave Sparkman currently serves as the volunteer Crossroads Career board chair and local ministry leader. He is also the founder and managing director of Spark Your Culture, a corporate culture consulting firm. Prior to that he worked at UnitedHealth Group, a Fortune #5 public company, serving in the role of Chief Culture Officer. His unemployment experience came from the implosion of Arthur Andersen, where he served as the West Region Managing Partner, People.