Acts 20:35b Insight:
To give is to have the ability to produce value. The receiver is in need of some value and is unable or unwilling to produce it himself. Need is not a virtue and giving can not be considered a virtue by every person in every context. Acts 20:35b is universally correct in principle with a slight clarification: "It is more blessed to be able to give than needing to receive." This clarification places emphasis on the productive ability of the giver rather than the act of giving itself.
2 comments:
Aren't you guilty of changing the meaning of scripture there? The ability to give very different from the act of giving.
If you hold that it is better to have the ability to give, than the need to receive, that's fair enough. However, I think it's wrong to attribute it to that passage in Acts. You are keeping most of the words, but changing the meaning entirely.
The way you have worded it implies: it is better to be rich than to be poor. In turn, this would imply that wealth is a virtue. I do not see that as being the intent to the verse you quote.
Clearly, the focus of the verse you quote is on the act of giving, not on the act of creating wealth. The focus of the verse is that goodness is derived from the giving.
Post a Comment