One Gives Freely and Gains More (Proverbs 11:24)

Right. So, today we're going to be we're going to go back in the Old Testament. We're going to use a a verse that that uh uh caused my girls to have their heads explode. And hopefully you'll understand what this means here in a second. We're going to be in Proverbs 11 and we're going to be in verse 24. And I think this speaks to the last couple of uh scriptures that we've covered as well, too. It kind of all ties in hand in hand. And so, this is Solomon again um just as yesterday in Ecclesiastes. Uh so here he is in in Proverbs 11 and verse 24.

He says, "One man gives freely yet gains even more and another withholds unduly but comes to poverty." Some of the texts that you guys will read, some of your your translations will say one man scatters. And so uh in the older versions and so what Solomon is using is again is a a farming analogy. And why? because that was the prevalent occupation. We all everybody understood what farming was and everybody understood what scattering meant. And so I I'll throw this out there. If you're going to scatter seed, does that mean you're losing it? Not at all.

You know that when I give this away, I'm going to get something back in return. And so for my girls, the the thing I told you would explode their brains is is we would tell them, and this is scripture as well too, if you want to be first in the kingdom of heaven, that you need to be last. Like, well, how can you be first and last? And so it kind of goes sideways and upside down and it our natural mind explodes. So God's economy is different than ours. It doesn't work the same, right? If Dustin gives away $10,000, his bank account now shows he's $10,000 less.

That's that's man's economy. God's economy says that when Dustin gives away $10,000 and he does it for the honor and glory of God, God's going to reward him for that. Good chance Dustin's going to get more back, right? And so that's that's a difference. And that's what God is talking about here. He says that when one man gives freely, yet he gains even more. And that's the heart that that Christ was talking about in the New Testament. It's the heart that Solomon is talking about here in the Old Testament. And magically or or or supernaturally, I should say, they line up.

They say the exact same thing. And so if we give freely um with the right heart, right? Uh God tells us that we're supposed to be cheerful givers. We're we're not saying I'm not I'm not suggesting for one second that Jimmy and Ailda need to clear out their bank account and give it to Dwayne. That's that's not that'd be really nice, but that's not that's not what we're saying, right? We have to use wisdom as well, too, right? God wants us to use that. And so, we have to be smart about what we're doing. We need to pray. We need to take it to Holy Spirit.

And it isn't just dollars. It's your time, right? I I uh I thanked uh Dan who's on the on the call this morning about his time that he spent on Saturday. We helped move a a church member. I called him an OG. Uh he's a guy who's been at our church for a long time. Dan never met him, but he showed up on Saturday and he gave of his time and his talent in order to be able to help move this guy. That is the definition of Proverbs 11 and 24. One man gives freely yet gains even more. I'm sure Dan felt good about that. I'm sure God looked upon Dan in a in a in a strong way about that.

And no one's going to forget that Dan did that for a guy he didn't even know. He did it because he knows he's a fellow brother in Christ. He did it because Dwayne put a message out. Hey, we got a fellow church member. Can anybody help? And Dan Dan raised his hand. Yeah, I can. Let me come help. And that is what Solomon is talking about here. The second part of this is another withholds unduly. Not just withholding. There's the difference there as well too. It's when you withhold unduly. When you really should be helping, but you're purposely not.

If you didn't have the ability to help, that's not withholding unduly. You didn't have the ability to help. If I don't have a truck and you need a truck, not a lot I'm going to do. I'm not withholding the truck from you. I don't have it. Right? So, it's it's not just not doing. It's not doing when you have the opportunity to do. And so he says another withholds unduly but comes to poverty. Um I don't want I I personally uh don't want God mad at me. I I I don't want him to to look at me and say I'm going to come against that man. And when you read other scripture and it talks about pride and it says he he lifts up the humble um but he comes he he comes against the proud.

So that's an action. He he he actively takes steps to say well if you're going to be prideful I'm going to set I'm going to there's going to be some action that's going to happen against you. And so here although those words are not laid out that way the concept is the same. Another withholds unduly but comes to poverty. That's a promise from God right there. If you are unduly withholding the ability to help somebody else that you should be helping, that you have the ability to help, Solomon says right here in a promise, you can plan on coming to poverty.

And whatever that means, everybody's in a different season, a different walk in their life. So, what does it mean to be first in God's kingdom? It means to sacrifice. It means to put others above you and before you. It means to think of yourself uh less often. Not think less of yourself, think of yourself less often. There's a difference in those two. And so, we need to be putting others first. We need to be that person who gives freely because when that happens, you honor God. You honor those around you. And God says, uh uh you're going to gain even more.

There's two promises in this verse. If you give freely, you're gonna gain more. If you withhold unduly, you're gonna lose. And that's not Dwayne saying that. That's not that's not the church necessarily. That that's the scripture. That's that's God's word that tells us this. And so, uh, we need to have that heart. And and I that's why I felt like this verse kind of goes along with the other verses that we've been talking about. I want to make sure that everybody understands that we have to apply wisdom and discernment. You know, if someone continues to keep coming to you and saying, "Hey, can I can you help me out?

Can you help me out? Can you help me out?" And you keep giving them money. Well, that may not be what you need to give them. You may need to give them some lessons on money management. You may need to give them uh the the the link to Indeed so they can get a job or get a better job. you may need to give them the information to the local um uh celebrate recovery because they keep spending their money on the wrong things. And so it's not just giving dollars. We need to use wisdom and discernment uh when we're applying how we give freely to someone else.

All right. So there we go. Thoughts, comments, suggestions? All right. Anybody else? I just want to say I think there's like also a a parallel here in terms of giving freely. I mean, is is there some kind of reference to giving freely of the fruits, you know, love, patience, kindness? You can give those freely as well, right? Of course. Yeah. It doesn't have to be money. It could be your time. It could be your wisdom. It could be your love. This this isn't just about dollars. That's not what this is. When when the the the the the Hebrew version of this is going to talk about a farming.

This is talking about scattering seed. He didn't say throw money around. He's just saying that when you when you throw something out and you're doing it for the honor and glory of God, God recognizes that and you're going to gain. And so whether that's a phone call, someone needed a phone call, someone needed a hug, someone needed a lift up, someone needed the link to something, it doesn't have to be dollars. You you you you want to exercise the fruit of the spirit and and and by all means do that frequently, often to those that are around you.

That's what the scripture is talking about. Jimmy, you were going to say something. Yeah, there I can't remember where the verse I think it's in the Old Testament someplace, but it it it uh it it it affected me or it helped me. It said something about uh when you had to it had to do when you're giving or helping somebody. It's like it's a hole and and and you keep pouring into this hole and there's nothing coming out of it. So that that that revelation came to me. We saw some family members and stuff like that. It was like saying it was pulled back because it was like given into a hole.

It was just going to be a waste. It was some place in the Old Testament. I just can't remember exactly where it was at. But has something to do with that. Good. Anybody else? Yeah, I think same thing Dwayne, you know, that God blesses those who freely give of their possession, their time, their energy. That's a big part of it. like you said, you know, it's um it's not just money, you know, the time that you invest into that person and you know, and um so, you know, there's a lot of things to be said, you know, on both on both sides of that verse.

Yeah. Because Yeah. G giving freely means that you're again, you're you're thinking of yourself less. You're thinking of others more. That's that's the heart. That's what Christ has for us, right? you know, love your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength, and love your neighbor as you love yourself. We that that's what that means. That means to to to look at that person with with greater importance than when you look at what you need or what you're after. And that's what this verse is talking about. That's what the scripture means to us.

All right, 20 seconds. Anybody? All right, let's bow our heads. Let's close out in prayer. Father, thank you so much for today. Thank you for uh thank you for for being here with us today. Thank you for directing the conversations. Thank you for the input. Thank you for Solomon thousands of years ago who uh who who gave this to us to let us know two promises, one simple verse. If we give freely, Lord, your word says that you're going to reward us, that we're going to get more back. And that if we unhold what we should be giving, Father, it tells us that we're going to come to poverty.

That that there's an action on both sides of this equation. And it's math again. We we talked about that weeks ago. So, Father, I just pray that we would uh continue to do these things that we would again not think of ourselves less. Uh but that we we'd think of ourselves less often, Father. That we would we would put our our focus where it needs to be. And that's on the body of Christ. And that's our neighbor. That's the person sitting next to us at church. That's the the the the co-orker that we have. That's the family member that's in a in a bad way.

It's it's not all about the dollar. It's about our love and our loving others, Father. So, I just pray that we would continue to do that, that we would grow in that, that we would recognize opportunities when they're in front of us. Sometimes I miss those, Lord, and I and I I uh I need help in that area as well, too. Uh give us the discernment, Lord, to know what's helping because those are two different things as well, too. And and that's important. Father, we just thank you for today, for guiding us, for for being with us, for for um every good and perfect gift that you give to us.

Father, we love you. We praise you. And as always, in your son Jesus name we pray. Amen. Amen. Amen. All right. See you guys tomorrow.

Transcript generated from the recording and lightly edited for readability.