Giver

“ The heart of the giver makes the gift dear and precious; as among ourselves we say of even a trifling gift, 'It comes from a hand we love,' and look not so much at the gift as at the heart."
"If we will only consider him in his works, we shall learn that God is nothing else but pure, unutterable love, greater and more than any one can think. ”

“ O GOD, who art the giver of all good gifts, I thy unworthy servant, entirely desire to praise thy name for all the expressions of thy bounty towards me. Blessed be thy love for giving thy Son to die for our sins, for the means of grace, and for the hope of glory. Blessed be thy love for all the temporal benefits which thou hast with a liberal hand poured out upon me ”

“ I have learned of Thee, my God, to distinguish betwixt a gift, and fruit. A gift, is the thing itself which he gives, that imparts these necessaries unto us; as money, meat, drink, clothing, shelter, help: but the fruit, is the good and right will of the giver. ”

“ Yes, my friends, when we say, ‘Give us this day our daily bread,’ we do indeed honour God and the name of God. We declare that He is Love, that He is The Giver, The absolutely and boundlessly generous and magnanimous Being. ”

“ Not what we give, but what we share,—
325For the gift without the giver is bare; ”

“ When truly made, from sincere affection, we bow down in almost adoration of the giver—'tis so sweet to give! The heart feels so light when it has yielded all its store; buoyant and healthful, it only grieves at its own poverty and ungathering powers ”

“ To our children, our servants, our friends, our acquaintances,—to each and all every day, and all day long, we are distributing that which is best or worst in existence,—influence: with every word, with every look, with every gesture, something is given or withheld of great importance it may be to the receiver, of inestimable importance to the giver. ”

“ In the growth and development of life, in the unfolding and outflowering of the soul, in the quest and accomplishment of human destiny, Thou art the eternal Preserver, Fulfiller and In-gatherer. And as we have sung, Thou art the free Giver of all good things, the bountiful Bestower of all boons, the ready Fulfiller of all desires, the prompt Response to all prayers. Our debt immense of endless gratitude how can we express in human language, compute in human expression? ”

“ The gift, to be true, must be the flowing of the giver unto me, correspondent to my flowing unto him. ”

“ If thou art pleased, then am I pleased;—as if He said: It is Joy and satisfying enough to me, and I ask nought else of thee for my travail but that I might well please thee.
And in this He brought to mind the property of a glad giver. A glad giver taketh but little heed of the thing that he giveth, but all his desire and all his intent is to please him and solace him to whom he giveth it. And if the receiver take the gift highly and thankfully, then the courteous giver setteth at nought all his cost and all his travail, for joy and delight that he hath pleased and solaced him that he loveth. ”

“ We can take our good gifts and our perfect gifts and hand them up! We can anticipate their being taken from us by giving them. We can give them as men who know whence they have been received, and where they will be held in trust for us—not grudgingly nor of necessity, as the Bible tells us, for God loveth a cheerful giver. ”

“ That the giver be moved for no other cause to give, but to shew and exercise his bounty and liberality: the more perfectly and purely these conditions are found in any gift, the more perfect and pure is the gift. Now all these do most exactly agree to those gifts of God, which pertaine unto life and godlinesse. ”

“ Who brings thee food, though thou hast food in plenty, welcomes his cheerful guest and speeds him onward, Who kindles thee devoutly in his dwelling to him be wealth secure and freely giving. 8. Whoso sings praise to thee at eve or morning, and, with oblation, doth the thing thou lovest,- In his own home, even as a gold-girt courser, rescue him from distress, the bounteous giver. ”

“ For he hath ne'er found wealth in those who seem to sleep: those who give wealth to men accept no paltry praise. 2. Giver of horses, Indra, giver, thou, of kine, giver of barley, thou art Lord and guard of wealth: Man's helper from of old, not disappointing hope, Friend of our friends, to thee as such we sing this praise. ”

“ We cannot give unless we have something to give. “If you would be a great giver,” says one of our philosophers, “you must first be a great person.” You dream of enriching the world with your life. Then make it a rich life. ”

“ For, he continued, “it requires no very critical examination of the human mind to enable us to determine that one great inducement to these gifts is the conviction felt by the giver that the disposition he makes of them is immutable. All such gifts are made in the pleasing, perhaps delusive hope, that the charity will flow forever in the channel which the givers have marked out for it. ”

“ Several may have sent similar gifts; but each is set out to the best possible advantage, with the name of the giver attached. And while the intrinsic value of each is not lost sight of, it is the loving thought of which it is the expression that is most prized. ”

“ For God knows the giver, though thou distributest it to those in want when he is absent. And he has the reward of well-doing, but thou the blessedness of having dispensed it with a good conscience. But do thou tell them who was the giver, that they may pray for him by name. For it is our duty to do good to all men, not fondly preferring one or another, whoever they be. ”

“ For God regards not so much the matter, as the forme of obedience: nor so much the thing done, as the affection wherewith we doe it. Wise men regard more the mind of the giver, then the value of the gift. When we first give our hearts wholly and entirely to God, then is our service, how small soever, very acceptable unto his Majesty. ”

“ They must often consider, that God joined them together, for their mutual benefit, as being on the whole fitter for each other, than any person besides could be. We know, that a mean gift is often respected, for the giver’s sake. And he that loveth God, cannot but love all his blessings for his sake. Wherefore remember, that God in great goodness (for crosses also come to God’s children from his goodness) hath bestowed this yoke-fellow, and thou shalt dearly love thy wife or husband, tho’ perhaps not so well-tempered. For the dearness of the giver will countervail the defects of the gift. ”

“ Father says, in this book, what joy has a man in bestowing a gift upon a person, when the receiver of the gift has no joy in the giver? The joy should be in the giver as well as in the gift. Take the gift and use it for the purpose for which it was designed, and do not worship it, but worship the giver and the proper authority. ”

“ If the Giver is not all that and more to you, never will His gifts be in your eyes as precious and as dear as they should be, and not long will you remember them. It is the question of the Psalmist, "Who is wise, and will keep these things in mind, and will understand the mercies of the Lord?" ”

“ Even among those who trace all their worldly comforts to God's bountiful hand, and acknowledge them continually as His gift, is not the gift too often the object of that trust which ought to rest upon the Giver? ”

“ Then if Beauty hath charms, if it is a possession which we value, we are under peculiar obligations to its Giver. "Every good and perfect gift cometh down from the Father of lights." This is one. A charming gift conferred for pleasure and profit. Who possesses it should be grateful. ”

“ Then, again, another of the elements of this requital of God is—be sure that you take what God gives.
There can be no greater slight and dishonour to a giver than to have his gifts neglected. You give something that has, perhaps, cost you much, or which at any rate has your heart in it, to your child, or other dear one ”

“ Those that cheerfully use what God has given them thereby honour the giver, answer the intention of the gift, act rationally and generously, do good in the world, and make what they have turn to the best account, and this is both their credit and their comfort; it is good and comely; there is duty and decency in it. (2.) That it is all the good we can have out of the things of this world: It is our portion, and in doing thus we take our portion, and make the best of bad. ”

“ Let us speak the simple words, expressing our need, that will appeal most truly to the Giver of every good and perfect gift. He can hear in secret; and he knows the desires of our hearts before we ask, but he has made it obligatory, and a duty that we shall call upon his name—that we shall ask that we may receive ”

“ They come quietly and stand at the door, and, accepting the offerings, as quietly depart without expressing thanks for what is given them, the idea being that they are not begging for their own benefit but in order to evoke a spirit of charity in the giver. ”

“ But, oh, Thou Bounteous Giver of all good,
Thou art of all Thy gifts Thyself the crown! ”

“ Whereas, one sometimes sees the little that has been honestly earned doing incalculable good. I have a fancy that the spirit of the giver has a great deal to do with the value of the gift. However, to return to Molly Jenkins. ”

“ Love the Giver more than the gift. ”

“ As brother Kimball justly said, "Remember, first of all, the Giver;" worship and adore the Giver. Some will lose a great deal by neglecting the Giver and by worshipping the gift. Such will find that they will meet with losses. ”

“ Every act by which it recognises the Giver in the gifts, heightens and intensifies its power to recognise Him; and every increase of its power to recognise Him increases also its capacity to receive; and this increase will again react on the faculties of recognition. ”

“ May the Wealth-giver grant to us riches that shall be far renowned. These things we gain, among the Gods. 9. He with the Rtu fain would drink, Wealth-giver, from the Nestar's bowl. Haste, give your offering, and depart. 10. As we this fourth time, Wealth-giver, honour thee with the Rtus, be A Giver bountiful to us. 11. Drink ye the meath, O Asvins bright with flames, whose acts are pure, who with Rtus accept the sacrifice. 12. With Rtu, through the house-fire, thou, kind Giver, guidest sacrifice: Worship the Gods for the pious man. ”

“ It is not, therefore, the thing which is done or given, but the spirit in which it is done or given, that must be considered, because a benefit exists, not in that which is done or given, but in the mind of the doer or giver. ”

“ The Holy Supper is kept, indeed,
In whatso we share with another's need;
Not what we give, but what we share,
For the gift without the giver is bare;
Who gives himself with his alms feeds three,
Himself, his hungering neighbor, and me.'
IX Sir Launfal awoke as from a swound: ”

“ Sixth, those who give because they feel they ought to give; who give through a sense of duty and not through love—moral givers.
Seventh, those who give in the spirit of Jesus; who give because they love their neighbor as themselves, and above all things desire to help him—spiritual givers. ”

“ Gifts of a splendid lavishness in such seasons are abundant; and strangely enough the givers feel enriched unspeakably by the joy of giving, enlarged immeasurably by impoverishment, and increased by abnegation. ”

“ And therefore he recommends to us the comfortable use of that which God has given us, with an eye to him that is the giver, as the best way both to answer the end of our having it and to obviate the mischiefs that commonly attend great estates, ver. ”

“ Will you notice how men give? Among those who give to benevolent enterprises there are three sorts of givers, with variations in each.
There is the man who gives because he is influenced by others. If the right man or committee of men call, and deftly present their pleas, playing skillfully upon what may appeal to him ”

“ Seek not the creature to the exclusion of the Creator; lose not thy trouble. Confide in the generosity of the Lord; the portion he has allotted thee will return in spite of thyself. How sweet it is to repose in the shade of a modest retreat and to content one’s self with the gifts of Providence! Lay not a bold hand on the object of thy covetousness; God knows what is necessary for thee. Let thy heart, satisfied with the Creator’s gifts, accept with gratitude all that he grants thee! ”

“ Now is the time for us to test that love—every man for himself. The appeal is to the individual. Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom, according to the measure that ye mete. For this [392] giving isn’t to men, it’s to God; it isn’t a portion, it’s all; it isn’t limited to material things, it includes our love and our life. ”