God is Law (4) - Law of giving, receiving

In the quote above, a correlation has been established between giving and receiving.

That is to say, if giving enables the needs of others to be met, the burdens to be lightened, the strain and stress to be dissipated and persons disentangled from the mesh in which they are, then the helper who does this is compensated by goodness out of proportion to the help he gave out.

Giving comes in various modes. We give when we expend time to console to advise, to nurture, to nurse, to educate, to sponsor, to support prayerfully, and to assist financially.

In these modes of giving, we are talking about substantial giving, sometimes with continuous financial obligations being fulfilled on behalf of the other person. A feature of such giving is selfless giving done from the impetus of love.

How does this affect us in Ghana? Most Ghanaians know and practise this principle. Corporate organisations, NGOs, churches, Old Students Associations and several other persons and bodies give to hospitals, schools, persons in need of surgical operations and so on. Even nations practice this precept when they donate towards projects and causes in the recipient countries.

Giving

As a nation, we need to understand how the law of giving and receiving could impact the development of our nation. For instance, civil wars devastated Somalia and Sudan.

The enormity of suffering was much.

Could not the Government of Ghana have donated at least 1 million US dollars to ease their suffering, especially those of the women and children? We must not be heard to say we have no money!

In the spirit of giving, when Ghana is celebrating her independence, the nation must give to any cause that is deserving of financial assistance, especially an external cause.

We have the International Red Cross, amongst others, to receive a gift from Ghana.

By such gifts, Ghana would establish and strengthen the bonds of friendship between herself and other nations. The results of such giving are tremendous.

From various quarters, unexpected assistance, help and interventions would pour into the country and solve some of our nagging problems. The law of giving and receiving works with unfailing results.

We have the story of John D. Rockefeller Snr, the American billionaire, as an illustration of the law of giving and receiving.

As early as age 25, he had the largest oil refinery in the US. By age 38, he was in command of about 90 per cent of oil production in the US and by age 58, when he retired, he was the richest man in the US.

At the peak of his power, the world of business revolved around him. When he died in 1937, his fortune was estimated at US$760 billion!

However, something remarkable occurred in his life that transformed him. At age 57, he fell ill. Whereas he had everything one could desire in life, he could eat no proper food: only wafers and milk.

He realised he was dying and that he could not carry an iota of anything in this world to the grave. He summoned his Chief Executives and Accountant and directed that his financial resources should be used to establish the John Rockefeller Foundation, and the monies used for charity, medical research and many other useful purposes.

He gave out as much as he could.

Hear!

Hear! By giving and sharing, his health improved dramatically. He grew to live up to 97 years!! On account of giving and realising the spirituality of life, that in proportion as we give, in such proportion do we receive, Rockefeller encountered God and lived a blessed man, full of peace. To prosper in life, John Rockefeller Snr advised that we should practice tithing. He said in an interview:

“Yes I tithe, and I would like to tell you how it all came about. I had to begin work as a small boy to help support my mother. My first wages amounted to $1.50 per week.

The first day after I went to work, I took the $1.50 home to my mother and she held the money in her lap and explained to me that she would be happy if I would give a tenth of it to my Lord.

I did and from that week until this day, I have tithed every dollar. And I want to say, if I had not tithed the first dollar I made, I would not have tithed the first million dollars I made.

Tell your readers to train the children to tithe and they will grow up to be faithful stewards of the Lord.”

The last example of classic giving is found in 1 Kings 17. Under King Ahab, of Israel, there was famine for three years. Prophet Elijah was directed by God to go to the town of Zaraphath. There he met a woman whose only meal and cruse of oil was enough for herself and child.

The famine had hit very hard. Nonetheless, Elijah asked her to first prepare a meal for him, then, they could have their own. She obeyed and did that. The result is seen in verse 14:

“The barrel of meal shall not waste, neither shall the cruse of oil fail, until the day that the Lord sendeth rain upon the earth” (KJV).    

Ghanaians must continue to practice the splendid law of giving and tithing, in as many ways as opportunities come their way, and, by that, we shall build a strong and blessed nation, because the law does not fail.

The writer is a lawyer.
E-mail: akwesihu@yahoo.com