Is it really better to give than to receive?

That saying gets thrown around a lot this time of year. Parents quote it to their children, pastors to their flocks, and everyone else to anybody they come in contact with. I was indoctrinated into it at an early age, but never really believed it. This week changed all that.

On Sunday, our youth group had the privilege of taking gifts and other necessities to local families in need. The senior class raised the money, and then designated how they were going to spend it. A friend and I took a group of excited high schoolers to two locations. The first was a sister of the youth worker in the church who we were told, "could care less about anything having to do with God." We disclosed our purpose for being at her doorstep, and she gracefully took our gift. She then asked if we were also caroling, to which I said "absolutely!" We asked for a request from her because we wanted it to bless her more than it would us. Surprisingly chose O Holy Night, which happens to be one of my favorites. The range gets a little heavy, but my years of choir came flooding back. We sang the best I have ever heard a group of high schoolers plus two leaders sing. Her face beamed with joy as we moved on to our next location. Unfortunately, this particularly family wasn't home at the time so we did not get to experience their jubilation. However, having been warned of their situation it brought joy to know that it would be there waiting for them when they returned home.

Last night, my band of brothers (our fancy name for our Bible Study) and I helped out underprivileged families in my school district. Earlier in the fall, we were looking for ways to reach out a helping hand as an act of service and demonstration of our love for Christ. I checked out a program in my school where food and other necessities are donated to poorer families. We offered a donation as well as our time when the boxes needed to be delivered. At the end of the school day, the woman runner the program asked if I could get my buddies to deliver that night. I squirmed, but told her I would make a few phone calls. When all was said and done, five of us loaded three cars with fifteen or so boxes of food. With only a limited knowledge of the area (me), a TomTom (Danny and Chad), and intuition (Jordan and Ryan) we took off. While the locations were vastly different, our experiences were the same. Families were bringing out every member to greet us. With smiles on their faces and tears in their eyes, they expressed heartfelt gratitude. God was gracious enough to allow me to visit three of my students, which was more of a blessing to me than it was to them. It gave me a deeper understanding of what circumstances my students are dealing with as well as a more genuine love for them. It was at those houses where I left with tears in my eyes. To top it all off, one of the students ran up to me at school today saying, "thanks for bringing us the food last night."

Now I would love to say I will be content from this point forward, but I am not that naive. Instead, I will simply say it truly is better to give than to receive. For even when we give, God graciously allows us to receive blessings from Him.