Be Generous and Find Blessing or Be Stingy and Experience Loss

Proverbs 11:24 (NIV) One man gives freely, yet gains even more; 
another withholds unduly, but comes to poverty.   

Generosity is the path to blessing and further prosperity. By 
contrast, the stingy person does not make any friends and hurts himself in 
the long run. [NIV SB] 
 
The sower multiplies his seed by casting it away. So it is with 
those who are faithful in distributing God's gifts. By imparting they 
increase their blessings. AA345 [Remnant SOP SB] 
 
Here is a paradox: we become richer by being generous. The world 
says to hold on to as much as possible, but God blesses those who 
give freely of their possessions, time, and energy. When we give, God 
supplies us with more so that we can give more. In addition, giving helps 
us gain a right perspective on our possessions. We realize they 
were never really ours to begin with, but they were given to us by 
God to be used to help others. What then do we gain by giving? 
Freedom from enslavement to our possessions, the joy of helping others, 
and God's approval. [Life Application SB] 
 
We are here taught the great lesson, that to get, we must give; 
that to accumulate, we must scatter; that to make ourselves happy, we 
must make others happy; and that in order to become spiritually 
vigorous, we must seek the spiritual good of others. In watering others, 
we are ourselves watered. How? Our efforts to be useful, bring out 
our powers for usefulness. We have latent talents and dormant 
faculties, which are brought to light by exercise. Our strength for labour 
is hidden even from ourselves, until we venture forth to fight the 
Lord's battles, or to climb the mountains of difficulty. We do not know 
what tender sympathies we possess until we try to dry the widow's 
tears, and soothe the orphan's grief. We often find in attempting to 
teach others, that we gain instruction for ourselves. Oh, what 
gracious lessons some of us have learned at sick beds! We went to teach 
the Scriptures, we came away blushing that we knew so little of 
them. In our converse with poor saints, we are taught the way of God 
more perfectly for ourselves and get a deeper insight into divine 
truth. So that watering others makes us humble. We discover how much 
grace there is where we had not looked for it; and how much the poor 
saint may outstrip us in knowledge. Our own comfort is also increased 
by our working for others. We endeavour to cheer them, and the 
consolation gladdens our own heart. Like the two men in the snow; one chafed 
the other's limbs to keep him from dying, and in so doing kept his 
own blood in circulation, and saved his own life. The poor widow of 
Sarepta gave from her scanty store a supply for the prophet's wants, and 
from that day she never again knew what want was. Give then, and it 
shall be given unto you, good measure, pressed down, and running over. 
[Morning and Evening by Charles H. Spurgeon re v. 11:25] 
 
ILLUSTRATION
 
   Three young men were once given three kernels of corn apiece 
by a wise old sage, who admonished them to go out into the world, 
and use the corn to bring themselves good fortune. 
   The first young man put his three kernels of corn into a bowl 
of hot broth and ate them.  
   The second thought, I can do better than that, and he planted 
his three kernels of corn. Within a few months, he had three stalks 
of corn. He took the ears of corn from the stalks, boiled them, and 
had enough corn for three meals. 
   The third man said to himself, I can do better than that! He 
also planted his three kernels of corn, but when his three stalks of 
corn produced, he stripped one of the ears and replanted all of the 
seeds in it, gave the second ear of corn to a sweet maiden, and ate 
the third. His one full ear's worth of replanted corn kernels gave 
him 200 stalks of corn! And the kernels of these he continued to 
replant, setting aside only a minimum for eating. He eventually planted a 
hundred acres of corn. With his fortune, he not only won the hand of the 
sweet maiden, but purchased the land owned by the sweet maiden's 
father. And he never hungered again. 
   God's law of sowing and reaping has never changed: What you 
sow, you will reap! [God's Little Devotional Bible] 
 
CLOSING THOUGHT
 
Admit it. You sometimes hesitate to give because you're 
skeptical about what you'll get in return. But God's Word promises a huge 
return on your investment: Give a lot and receive a lot; help someone 
and you'll be helped. Be a cheerful giver (2 Corinthians 9:7) and 
see what happens. God promises you'll be blessed! [The 365 Daily 
Promise Bible By Barbour re. v. 11:25]