Are you a giver or a taker? In tough economic times, we tend to be selfish with our resources. Dr. Stanley shares with us the truth behind the principle Jesus showed us here on earth, “God blesses us so that we might bless others.” Jesus stressed that caring for the needs of others was more important than storing wealth for our own use. Will you freely share the blessings God has given you, trusting Him to provide for all of your needs? For more messages from Charles Stanley, including this week’s broadcast, go to www.intouch.org/watch
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male announcer: “In Touch”
with Dr. Charles Stanley,
celebrating 45 years
of God’s faithfulness
and sharing the
gospel worldwide.
Next on “In Touch,”
“Passing On God’s Blessings.”
Dr. Charles Stanley: In these
economic times, it’s easy for
us to get a little bit selfish
and a little bit self-centered,
and the reason is because
we always have needs
at some point in our life.
And we also have
responsibilities.
And so, the question is,
how should we as followers
of Jesus respond in these times?
Well, the question I have
to ask is this:
What about in Jesus’s day?
What did He say,
what did He do, how did He act?
What did He
admonish them to do?
How did He tell them to
relate to each other?
It’s all in the Word of God.
And when you read the Scripture
and you begin to understand what
Jesus was saying, and the
apostle Paul also, and others,
then you begin to understand
what He taught them not only
worked for their day, but
what He taught them
works for our day also.
And when you read the Scripture
and you begin to understand
exactly what He’s saying, the
truth is, we’re to live out our
life today just like He told
them to live it out in that day.
So, what I want us to
talk about is this.
I want to talk about one of the
life principles, which is: God
blesses us in order to have us
be a blessing to other people.
That’s the reason.
He blesses us to be a
blessing to someone else.
And I want you to turn to two
short Scriptures, one of them
being in Ephesians chapter four.
And here Paul is talking about
the Christian life and how we
should live and things we
should avoid in our life.
And he comes down to this
twenty-fifth verse and he says,
“Therefore, laying aside
falsehood, speak truth each one
of you with his neighbor, for
we are members of one body,”
speaking of the church.
“Be angry, and yet do not sin;
do not let the sun
go down on your anger.”
And then he says, listen to
this, “And do not give
the devil an opportunity.
He who steals must steal no
longer; but rather he must
labor,” says he must work,
“performing with his own hands
what is good, so that he will
have something to share
with one who has need.”
Now, if you turn over to this
sixth chapter of first Timothy,
and here again, Paul is
referring to this same issue.
And if you’ll notice what he
says in the sixth chapter and
the seventeenth verse, he says,
“Instruct those who are rich in
this present world not to be
conceited or to fix their hope
on the uncertainty of riches,
but on God, who richly
supplies us all with
good things to enjoy.”
Then he says, “Instruct them
to do good, to be rich in good
works, to be generous
and ready to share.”
He says you don’t steal, but
you work in order to share.
And if you’re wealthy, you don’t
keep it all to yourself, because
God wants us to share that also.
So, in thinking about that, I
want us to think about this
whole idea that God has
blessed every single one of us.
One of the things He had in mind
when He blessed us is that you
and I would be a
blessing to someone else.
Well, let’s talk
about what a blessing is.
If I ask God to bless you,
here’s what I’m asking:
I’m asking God to intervene
in your life in
some fashion for your good.
Maybe your happiness, your joy
in your life, or to meet some
particular need in your life.
That is, I’m asking Him to
intervene in your life for
something in your behalf.
Because the truth is,
that’s what God wants us to do.
He wants us to
bless one another.
And both of those verses that
we read, He said we’re to share.
We’re to work and labor whatever
we have, and we’re to share with
other people who don’t
have as much as we do.
Now, when you think about the
life of Christ and the way He
saw Himself–we see Him as
the Lord and the Master
and the King and all the rest.
When He came,
here’s what He said.
He said, “I didn’t come to be
served,” though He deserved it.
“I didn’t come to be served.
I came to serve and to give My
life a ransom for many,” which
was an expression of the way
He served, expression of His
goodness and love
and mercy toward us.
Then on another occasion, Luke
the twenty-second chapter,
he says that “I am among
you as one who serves.”
That’s the way
Jesus saw Himself.
So let’s think about some things
that Jesus did that certainly
were expressions of a servant.
When He saw a need, He was
willing to meet that need.
Does that mean that He
healed everybody that was sick?
No.
Does that mean that He met every
single solitary person’s needs?
No.
But it’s amazing because you
see, He–the Bible says that He
knew the heart of every person.
But if you look at His life, His
life is one three-year period
of giving, giving, giving,
giving, sharing, sharing,
sharing Himself.
Now, I want you to listen to
what He says in the Word of God,
because it applies to
every single one of us.
And so in in light–listen, what
I’m going to do is I’m going to
give you a word of what He’s
done for us, how He’s served us.
And then I want you to read the
verse that follows that, in
a moment, of how I’m to respond
on the basis of what He’s done.
So let’s start with the
fact that He saved us.
And look at this.
He saved us from our sins,
and He said to us now it’s my
responsibility and yours to “Go
into all the world and preach
the gospel to all creatures.”
Now, that doesn’t mean that
you have to go to
China or Russia tomorrow.
But it means, listen, where you
live, you and I are responsible
for sharing the truth of the
gospel with the, watch this,
with the people, listen,
who are in our circle.
Now, some circles are way out
yonder, and some are up close.
Some have a few friends.
You have people you work with.
And then on and on it goes.
Doesn’t make any difference.
Whatever and wherever we live,
we have a responsibility to be
sharing the gospel,
because that’s what He gave us.
A second thing is, you think
about this, that He loves us.
He loves us supremely.
And so look in first Peter
chapter four verse eight: “Above
all, keep fervent in your love
for one another, that is, keep
your love alive, because love
covers a multitude of sins.”
Be fervent in our love.
In other words, just
“How you doin’, I like you.”
But fervent love means
it’s love that’s in action.
Fervent love expresses itself.
It expresses itself not only
in words but expresses
itself in deeds.
So He’s not asking us to do
any more than He’s done for us.
He says, “I saved you.
I want you to be the conduit
somebody else gets saved.
I love you and I love
you with a fervent love.
I love you enough to
have given My life for you.
And I want you to
fervently, that is,
genuinely love other people.
Give yourself away to them
in such a fashion they
experience that love.”
Then of course, He
forgives us of our sins.
Look at this, Ephesians four
thirty-two: “Be kind to one
another, tender-hearted,
forgiving each other,
just as God in Christ also
has forgiven you.”
How does Jesus forgive us?
He freely forgives us.
We don’t have to beg and
plead for God to forgive us.
And there’s not a single one of
us, no matter who you are,
who can say, “I asked the Lord
to forgive me of my sins
but He didn’t do it.
I asked Him two or three
times but He didn’t do it.”
If you ask Him sincerely as one
of His children, yes, He did.
You may not feel it.
You may not see anything going
on around you that’s different.
You ask Him to forgive you.
He says, “If we confess
our sins, He’s faithful,”
you can trust Him, “and just.”
He has a right to forgive you.
Now, if you’re not a
believer, where does it begin?
It begins with your
confessing of your sins.
Asking Him to forgive you of
your sins and accepting His Son
Jesus as your personal Savior.
And that acceptance is based on
the fact that He paid your sin
debt in full, not that
you are good enough to
be saved by simply asking.
And so our
forgiveness is from Him.
He says we’re to forgive others
even, listen, even as God,
through His Son Jesus
Christ, has forgiven us.
He has forgiven every single
one of us of many, many things
many, many times.
And not only that, He’s forgiven
us of the same thing many times.
I have to forgive no
matter what, no matter when,
no matter how,
and no matter who.
There is no limit
to forgiveness.
You say, “Well, it
hurts me so bad.”
That’s not the issue.
How many times has
Jesus forgiven you?
Well, if I’m going to be
one of His followers,
then that’s part of it.
Then, of course,
He teaches us the truth.
It’s why we know it.
Look at this.
“The one who is taught the
word is to share all good
things with the one who
teaches him or teaches her.”
That is, you have learned many
things from the Word of God.
You have the responsibility
of teaching somebody else.
You say, “But now,
wait a minute.
I am not a teacher.”
Well, how do you
define a teacher?
Someone who has a
college education and
a degree in teaching?
No.
Watch this: if you know
something I don’t know and
you’re willing to tell me what
that means and how I can apply
it to my life, you
just taught me something.
And our Lord has given us
the Holy Spirit that makes us
capable of
teaching other people.
There are many people you can
teach the truth of God’s Word.
Then, of course, think
about this: He comforts us.
And listen to what He says in
second Corinthians, he says,
“Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ, the
Father of all mercies and
the God of all comfort, Who
comforts us in all affliction,
so that we’ll be able to
comfort those who are in any
affliction with the comfort with
which we ourselves
are comforted by God.”
You and I are comforters.
You say, “Well, I
don’t know what to say.”
Yes, you do.
You say, “Well, what am I–how
am I going to comfort someone?”
You see them hurting, here’s
what you say to them: “I just
want you to know that I’m
really praying for you.
I don’t fully understand
everything that you’re going
through, but I want you to
know you can count on me.”
You see, the truth is, all of
us can do exactly what Jesus
is doing for us, and
here’s the command.
I–the truth is, I don’t have
a choice if I’m going to be
a follower of Jesus.
He comforted others; He
says I’m to comfort others.
An encourager, for example.
He encourages us.
That’s one of the
reasons you and I pray.
We pray because sometimes we
get a little discouraged
or we’re facing something.
We just say, “God, I need you.”
Listen to what He says: “Now may
the God who gives perseverance
and encouragement grant you to
be of the same mind with one
another according
to Christ Jesus.”
Everybody needs
one or more encouragers.
Somebody sent me an email that I
just found it last night, and I
thought, Lord, I hope I can have
a moment, just a moment if I
could today to say thank you
very much for sending me that.
It was a very
encouraging message to me.
I wonder when’s the last time
you decided, “I’m going
to send so-and-so an
email, write them a letter, call
them, and I just want to say a
word of encouragement to them.”
You don’t have to say,
“Now, I have called you
to encourage you.”
No, that’s not what
I’m talking about.
You just do it.
And you know what?
Sometimes a pat on the shoulder
or a handshake with both hands
is a very encouraging
thing to some people.
But you see, if I’m always
thinking about me, myself, and
I, I’m going to let a wonderful
opportunity go by many times
a day to be an
encourager if I’m not careful.
Then, of course,
He has accepted us.
Thank God He has.
He has accepted us.
Listen to this: “Therefore,
accept one another, just as
Christ also has accepted
us to the glory of God.”
If I accept someone, that
means that I take them
for who they are.
I may not like what they do, I
may not like the way they act,
but I can accept them as persons
who may be persons in need.
They may be persons who are
selfish, they may be persons
that are greedy, may be persons
full of happiness and joy.
And remember this: every single
one of us has been accepted
by God through His
Son Jesus Christ.
That has nothing to
do with deserving it.
It’s just because
that’s who He is.
He loves us.
Then, of course, He’s
been very patient with us.
Look at this: “With all humility
and gentleness, with patience,
showing tolerance for one
another in love,”
patience for one another.
Every parent has to be patient.
We have to be
patient with each other.
And patience
says, “You know what?
I can wait till you learn this.
I can wait till you forgive me.
I can wait till you change.
I can wait till you pay me.”
In other words, I can wait.
God has been patient with
every single one of us.
We’re to be patient
with one another.
And then, of course, kindness.
The same verse we read a few
moments ago: “Be kind to one
another, tender-hearted,
forgiving each other.”
Kindness says I’m
thinking about you.
You’d be surprised how you can
express kindnesses to people
that don’t expect it but may
need it, or it gives them joy
or happiness or
whatever it might be.
Think about–when is the last
time you purposely decided,
“Now, I’m going to do something
really good for him or her,
I’m going to show her
that I really do care for her”?
It’s not that you do
it to get anything.
Remember what we said: we’re
not talking about getting,
we’re talking about giving.
And then, of course, this whole
idea of stimulating one another.
Look at this verse,
Hebrews ten, twenty-four:
“And let us consider how to
stimulate one another to
love and good deeds.”
To stimulate means to
motivate them, to stir them up.
In other words, how do
we motivate other people?
You want to motivate your
children to be obedient.
You want to motivate
them to express love.
You want to
motivate them to be kind.
What about ourselves?
And what about
stimulating each other?
And you see, brow-beating
people and talking negative to
them and always criticizing–
and some people are just
born in a negative case.
They don’t seem to know how
to say anything positive.
But listen, what motivates you?
What stimulates you?
Not criticism.
We’re stimulated by what?
By kindness, by words of
acceptance and by compliments
that are that are meaningful.
And we–and when we see good
characteristics in people and we
say that, we
stimulate them to do better.
And this is why you hear me
saying, and I say to our staff,
you look your best, do
your best, be your best.
I want to stimulate them to
rise up and don’t be average.
Do your best, look your best,
be your best because you’re
representatives of Jesus Christ.
Stimulate one another.
That is, so work in their
life and so speak to them
that something inside of them
just rises up to do
their best, whoever they are.
And then, of
course, shares with us.
And the very first verse we
talked about in this fourth
chapter of Ephesians and this
twenty-eight verse, when he says
here, “He who steals must steal
no longer,” because lots of
slaves in those days were doing
that, “but rather,” he says,
“he must labor, performing with
his own hands what’s good,
so that we’ll have
something to share with one
another who has needs.”
Now, let me ask you a question.
As you look at your own life in
the way you live, would you say
you are a getter or a giver?
Do you spend most of your
time thinking about
what you’re going to get?
Or do you think about most of
your time, “How can I give?
What can I give?
What can I share?”
Now, I’ll make one last
statement you must never forget.
Are you listening?
Say amen.
When you stand before the Lord
and you get to heaven, listen
carefully, you will not be
rewarded for what you get.
You’ll only be
rewarded for what you give.
So, I’d like to
give you something.
I would like to give you at
this moment the opportunity of
changing the direction of your
life, the eternal destiny of
your life, and the
condition of your life.
And here’s how you can do that:
you can recognize honestly that
you’re a sinner, that you’ve
sinned against God, and that you
don’t deserve anything because
when you look at your works,
your works are pitiful when you
think about the fact that you
have rejected Jesus Christ
as your personal Savior.
So, the invitation is this: to
ask the Lord Jesus Christ to
forgive you of your sins and
acknowledge that you’ve never
trusted Him as your Savior.
You’ve tried to do good, but
the Bible states that
that doesn’t work.
He says by works of
righteousness, which you’ve
done, no person’s
ever been saved.
I want to invite you to invite
Jesus Christ into your life,
asking Him to forgive you of
your sins, surrendering yourself
to Him personally, and saying,
“Lord, I want You in my life.
I want You to live your
life in and through me.
I need the
forgiveness of my sins.
I do want to go to heaven
when I die, but I want
my life to count now.
And most of all, I want
Jesus Christ as my
Lord and my Savior.”
If you’re willing to ask Him to
forgive you of your sin and say
to Him, “I am receiving You,
Jesus, as my personal Savior
here and now,” in that moment,
your sins are forgiven.
You become a child of God.
Father, how grateful we are
for Your love for us and all the
wonderful ways You express it.
And I pray that every person who
hears this message will realize
how absolutely, totally indebted
we are to You, for not some
things, but everything; for
life itself, breath itself,
and everything
that comes with it.
I pray that every person who
hears it would be wise enough
to surrender their life to
You, Father, through
Jesus Christ Your Son.
And I pray this in His
wonderful name, amen.
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