Acts 20: It Is More Blessed to Give Than to Receive

Introduction

On Sunday, September 27, 2026, at Tokyo Grace Gospel Church, the service opens with Romans 8:32, read by the service host: "He who didn’t spare his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how would he not also with him freely give us all things?" That sets the tone. God gave the best he had, holding nothing back.

The preacher then opens the Bible to Paul's words to the elders of Ephesus: “I coveted no one’s silver, gold, or clothing. You yourselves know that these hands served my necessities, and those who were with me. In all things I gave you an example, that so laboring you ought to help the weak, and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that he himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’” (Acts 20:33-35).

It is one of the most famous sayings in the Bible. But the preacher asks a direct question: do we Christians really believe it? His message comes down to one conviction: happiness is never an accident. It has a reason. And that reason is giving.

Message outline

1. Happiness has a reason

• The word translated "blessed" expresses the measure of human happiness. Jesus teaches that this happiness consists in giving.
• Whether you are happy or not is no accident. There is a reason for happiness, just as there is a reason when it is missing.
• The text contrasts giving and receiving: giving makes you happier than receiving, and receiving does not make you as happy as giving. The preacher sees in this an "extremely healthy" principle.
• Why? Because the one who gives shares what he himself has received from God. The one who goes through life waiting to receive makes his happiness depend on the people who give to him.

2. Whoever waits to receive depends on others

• If receiving is what makes you happiest, your life rests on those who give to you. "To put it more bluntly, you are tied down." Giving is therefore the mark of the happiest person.
• This principle goes beyond the Bible. Many people look first to be loved. But the joy of someone who seeks to be loved every day will never exceed the joy of the one who loves first.
• Demanding love while looking around you makes you less happy than loving yourself, because that love comes from God.
• Receiving is pleasant, of course. But whoever thinks only of receiving counts on others. Whoever gives has a greater joy.
• Paul speaks these words at Miletus, a port where he had called the elders of Ephesus before leaving them. He warns them: many pursue a false happiness. Do not be mistaken about what makes you happy. Seek the joy of giving, not the joy of receiving.

3. The holding-back heart, and what makes it yield

• Behind every hesitation to give, there is a heart that holds back: we cling to what we love, we ration our time.
• Yet the expression "sparing no effort" shows that we also know how to give everything. A family whose child has suffered from atopic dermatitis since birth spares no effort and watches every single food.
• When both kidneys of a child or a wife fail, a father or mother offers one of their own without the slightest hesitation. The holding-back heart has disappeared.
• Often, compatibility does not allow the gift. If it were a stranger, some would be almost relieved to learn that. But if it were someone close, the announcement "it is not compatible" would be a great sorrow.
• Before what we love, before what has great value in our eyes, the holding-back heart shatters, and we taste the great joy of giving. To protect a family member we love, we would gladly give a leg.
• By contrast, we often give and invest for our own honor or wealth, and we give to things that are not worth that much.

4. God gave his Son, and we give him our leftovers?

• The central truth of the message: God the Father gave his only Son, Jesus Christ, for our salvation. There is no greater value.
• The preacher tells of a conversation with a young missionary, on her return from the mission field. She told him: "I do mission at the risk of my life." He sometimes wonders in what form he will see her again, perhaps in an urn.
• He asked her: "If one day you have children, which would be harder: going on mission yourself and risking death, or sending your child there?" She answered: sending her child. "That is exactly right," he concludes.
• The Father gave his only Son for us. What he wants us to know is how much we are loved. Do we respond to this love? Never fully, of course.
• But in gratitude, don't we often give our leftovers? In the Bible, the offering is not taken from what remains. It is given first, like the firstfruits, the first harvest.
• Paul urges the church in Corinth to set aside first (1 Corinthians 16:2). We never have enough money, the preacher admits. But with what is left, God will feed you fully. "Is Jesus Christ worthy of our leftovers?"
• In us there is the desire to give and, facing it, the holding-back heart. In the midst of this divided heart, God loved us first (1 John 4:19). This is the starting point of giving: not the question of whether anything is left over, but the love of God who loved us first.

5. Being like Jesus means giving

• We often pray: "Lord, make me like Jesus, transform my character." But if you want to be filled with the love of Jesus, you cannot look away from giving.
• If you tell someone "it would be wonderful to be like Jesus," you first have to teach them to give. Otherwise it will not happen.
• Someone who thinks only of receiving every day lives a life that depends on those who give to him. That is not the life God desires for us. This is why Paul teaches the great happiness of giving at Ephesus, and to all the churches that will read this text.

6. True fellowship

• Fellowship is not drinking tea and having a pleasant chat. That is superficial. True fellowship, as 2 Corinthians 8:1-4 describes it, is giving to one another, joining together to help the poor, giving for unity not only good feelings but things of value.
• It takes time, and you have to give your time. It also takes money. True fellowship is not a matter of words.
• When the moment to give comes, a small voice answers back: "Yes, but, pastor..." This holding-back heart makes a Christian's heart suffer.
• In Cambodia as elsewhere, many children are in need. They need toilets. They do not even eat a hamburger once a year.
• The holding-back heart hurts, so in the end we forget. The heart hardens, and indifference sets in: children live in slums, there are many refugees, "it doesn't concern me." That is how we drift away from God's blessing, while we go off to enjoy ourselves all over the place.
• If this word shakes you, it is because the love of God is in you. Jesus lives in you, he who went to the cross of his own accord and suffered death in our place. Without this love, we shrug: "So what?"
• The preacher recalls a word from the Bible: saying "take care" to a poor person shivering with cold is hypocrisy. Why not give him a sweater? “And if a brother or sister is naked and in lack of daily food, and one of you tells them, “Go in peace. Be warmed and filled;” yet you didn’t give them the things the body needs, what good is it?” (James 2:15-16).
• Whoever does not live this true fellowship leaves church after pretty words and pretty greetings. But he is still alone. His heart is not satisfied. This lack comes from a lack of love: the holding-back heart eats us up from the inside.

7. In all things: blessing those who hurt you

• Paul says he showed this principle "in all things," that is, in every situation. Just before, he mentions the trials and persecutions he endured. In the midst of all this, he holds no grudge, he does not curse, he blesses.
• Jesus also says that when people speak evil of us, we are to rejoice: “Rejoice, and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven. For that is how they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” (Matthew 5:12).
• Concretely, if someone says something hurtful to you at work, say in your heart: "Lord, I bless this unpleasant boss. Lord, I bless this mean colleague." The one who blesses those who mistreat him is the true winner.
• Jesus warns: “For with whatever judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with whatever measure you measure, it will be measured to you.” (Matthew 7:2). If we do not give in every situation, we will have reason to blush.
• Everywhere, the Bible says: “Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over, will be given to you. For with the same measure you measure it will be measured back to you.” (Luke 6:38). Whoever gives receives from God. Whoever waits to receive ends up dominated by people.
• Even if someone has hurt you deeply, you can say it through gritted teeth: "Lord, I forgive this person, I bless them." God, who blesses, then gets moving, and it will bless you too.

8. Seek first the kingdom

• “But seek first God’s Kingdom, and his righteousness; and all these things will be given to you as well.” (Matthew 6:33). Jesus says this to people of little faith. This faith that seeks the kingdom first is the condition of our happiness, and it is lived out in giving.
• "That person is lucky, they are happy by chance": that is lying to yourself. They are happy because they live this principle all their life.
• God gave us the most precious thing he had, Jesus Christ. "Our leftovers won't do."
• The preacher calls each person to decide: will you receive this standard of happiness, or set this message aside for a week until you forget it? That is how one misses the blessing.
• He finishes thirty minutes earlier than usual: "I have said enough. The rest is for you to receive, to believe, and to receive."
• His prayer: that we would no longer be dominated by what others give us, that we would become people who give of themselves, and that the Lord would truly transform us into the image of Jesus.

Key takeaways

• Happiness does not come by chance: according to Acts 20:35, it is more blessed to give than to receive.
• Whoever lives to receive depends on those who give to him. Whoever gives shares what he has received from God.
• The starting point of giving is not what we have left over, but the love of God who loved us first and gave his only Son.
• True fellowship is not limited to pretty words: it gives time, money, and meets real needs.
• Giving "in all things" also means blessing those who hurt us.

Personal application

1. In your life, what do you most hope to receive from others: attention, recognition, love? What would change if you loved first?
2. What is your heart holding back right now: your time, your money, your energy?
3. Does what you give to God come first, or from what is left at the end of the month?
4. Is there a concrete need around you, or farther away, that you have become indifferent to?
5. Whom do you need to bless this week, even through gritted teeth: a boss, a colleague, a loved one who hurt you?

Verses cited

• Acts 20:33-35
• Romans 8:32
• 1 Corinthians 16:2
• 1 John 4:19
• 2 Corinthians 8:1-4
• James 2:15-16
• Matthew 5:11-12
• Matthew 7:2
• Luke 6:38
• Matthew 6:33

Frequently asked questions

What does "it is more blessed to give than to receive" mean?

In Acts 20:35, Paul recalls a saying of the Lord Jesus. For the preacher, it is the biblical definition of happiness: it does not come by chance, it has a reason. Whoever lives waiting to receive depends on those who give to him. Whoever gives shares what he himself has received from God, and his joy is greater.

Why do we find it hard to give?

Because alongside the desire to give, there is in us a heart that holds back. This heart disappears when we see the value of what we love: a parent gives a kidney to their child without hesitation. The preacher reminds us that the starting point of giving is not what we have left over, but the love of God who loved us first.

What is true fellowship according to this message?

It is not drinking tea and exchanging pretty words after the service. True fellowship means giving to one another, time, money, things of value, and meeting the real needs of those who suffer. Without that, we leave church polite but alone, with an unsatisfied heart.