To give something, we must already have it. We cannot give what we do not have.
For example...
If you do not have love, you cannot give love.
If you have not received mercy, you will not give mercy.
If you do not receive grace, you cannot be gracious.
If you have not experienced compassion and comfort, you will not offer it.
In and of ourselves, we ²may give these short-term and superficially, but we do so in order to get a sense of meaning, value, and purpose i.e. we give to get. But absent receiving these from the Source we can not sustain giving long term. If our receiving does not exceed our giving, we stop giving simply because we do not have an infinite supply within us of what is needed for true life.
Because we are ³absent these in and of ourselves - i.e. we are always "running on empty" so to speak. We can not sustain giving on our own. We must regularly be filled somehow or we run out of "gas" i.e. to give to others long term, solely for their gain, is not possible in and of ourselves. We are not the source of these but only the conduits.
The good news is if we are in Christ we have been given all of these, and far more; to receive, pass along, and give others. Without Christ, and the Spirit we only have the capacity to receive these.
Thankfully our rebellious distrust of God has not destroyed this capacity but only made it dormant. When we are made alive again in Christ, God Himself, by His Spirit, comes to reside in us ⁴again, revealing Christ in all his love, wisdom, and glory, filling us with His fullness, resulting in it flowing out through us to others.
If you wish to experience more of what you have been given the capacity for, you must know and receive by faith Christ and all He is and offers.
Then we are called to give to others - take action by faith - what we have been given and it will be released in and through us to them.
It is in our giving we receive. Sometimes we experience this in the process of giving but other times we come to the end of our resources and God replenishes us later. But if we give out of love for God and others He promises we will have all we need to continue.
To do so honors God and is honored - rewarded - by Him.
"Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work.
As it is written, "He has distributed freely, he has given to the poor; his righteousness endures forever." He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness. You will be enriched in every way to be generous in every way, which through us will produce thanksgiving to God. For the ministry of this service is not only supplying the needs of the saints but is also overflowing in many thanksgivings to God." 2 Cor 9:7-11
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¹To say it another way we do things either for the glory of self or the glory of God. If for the glory of self it is an action to get or gain glory - value, meaning, purpose and love - for myself. If for the glory of God it is action to give honor or glory to God. And we can because He is our Source and unlimited supply. Without Him we can do nothing.
²If we do, it is only because we've received them from others such as loving parents, extended family, mentors, teachers, or other caretakers in our life, especially in our formative years i.e. others have sacrificially poured into us so our emotional cup is relatively fuller than those who had no such nurturing i.e. those who were blessed to receive this have a greater reserve than others.
But it's still only a reserve, not an endless fountain. Therefore, it is insufficient to sustain us in the sacrificial loving of others long-term. To love others as we are designed and called to requires our being sustained by infinite, nonstop, inexhaustible love. And that can only come from an infinite, inexhaustible Source. This is not us or from us but from someone outside of us i.e. our infinite Creator and Giver of love, life, and all things.
³Since we were created to be in union with our Creator, the Source of love, life, and all things, it only stands to reason that we are running on empty if we are not in union with Him i.e. not "plugged in to the power supply."
If we are in Christ that union (connection) has been reestablished and is being slowly repaired - like a badly frayed electrical cord - as our trust and dependence on the Source of love grows. It will not be fully restored until eternity.
"For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now.
And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. - Rom 8:18-23
https://bible.com/bible/59/rom.8.18-23.ESV
⁴I say "again" because I believe we have good reasons to think He resided in us before we turned away from Him in Eden.
The death God warned Adam of for eating from the forbidden tree was the result of the loss of God's indwelling us by His Spirit.
