Give And It Will Be Given

“give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you.”” ‭‭Luke‬ ‭6:38‬ ‭

I have always thought this passage was about finances. I’ve heard it to attach to tithing messages for as long as I can remember. Give from your finances and God will bless you back. Sounds good.

However as I read the scripture in context, it is about forgiving and judging others. It is in the mix of Jesus talking about loving your enemies. He talked about not judging others and removing the log in your own eye before trying to pull the speck from someone else. Couldn’t really be about forgiving,

This passage really be about forgiving? Could it be about giving others grace instead of condemning them? Could He be talking about not judging others? Could it really mean forgive and forgiveness will be given to you? Could he be saying that with the same level of measurement we get Forgiveness it will be given back to us? Could he be saying that just as olives and wheat are pressed, we have to press down offenses instead of caring them?

Could you be saying that just as things are shaking and mixed, if we get through forgiveness there will be a mixing, a restoration of relationship? Could he be foreshadowing that Forgiveness will run over because Jesus’s blood was shed and all forgiveness runs out of that?

This line of thinking seems much more in context with other gospel passages.

“For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses”. Matthew‬ ‭6:14-15‬ ‭

Or in response to Peter:

“Then Peter came up and said to him, “Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?” Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you seven times, but seventy-seven times. “Therefore the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his servants. When he began to settle, one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents. And since he could not pay, his master ordered him to be sold, with his wife and children and all that he had, and payment to be made. So the servantfell on his knees, imploring him, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you everything.’ And out of pity for him, the master of that servant released him and forgave him the debt. But when that same servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii, and seizing him, he began to choke him, saying, ‘Pay what you owe.’ So his fellow servant fell down and pleaded with him, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you.’ He refused and went and put him in prison until he should pay the debt. When his fellow servants saw what had taken place, they were greatly distressed, and they went and reported to their master all that had taken place. Then his master summoned him and said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. And should not you have had mercy on your fellow servant, as I had mercy on you?’ And in anger his master delivered him to the jailers,until he should pay all his debt. So also my heavenly Father will do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother from your heart.””
‭‭Matthew‬ ‭18:21-35‬ ‭

We forgive because God has forgiven us. This forgiveness is ours if we forgive those who sin against us. It runs over and through what Jesus did for us. In light of this, how can we not give? We give and it will be given to us.

Prayer – Lord, thank You for Your forgiveness of my sins. I want to give forgiveness out of the same measure that You have given it to me, Good measure, press down, shaken together, and running over. It is the least that I can do for sins committed against me, for you have forgiven me for so much more.