Be giving. Be as a stream of flowing water giving to those in need.

 

84. Be giving. Be as a stream of flowing water; be giving of your substance and The Lord will give you more in return: In the Bible, The Bahá’í Writings and many of the other God fearing religions around the world, we are encouraged to be freely giving and charitable with our substance and put our reliance totally in God, and He will give us back our needs and more in return.  CHRISTIANITY: Mark: 4:24 “Take heed what ye hear: with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you: and unto you that hear shall more be given.” 1 Corinthians: 13:2 “And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing.” 1 Corinthians: 16:14 “Let all your things be done with charity.” We are to be charitable with our possessions and in return God, Who is the all giving, will give us more in return. Luke: 6:38 “Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again.”  JUDAISM: Deuteronomy: 10:17 “For The LORD your God is God of gods, and Lord of lords, a great God, a mighty, and a terrible, which regardeth not persons, nor taketh reward:” 10:18 “He doth execute the judgment of the fatherless and widow, and loveth the stranger, in giving him food and raiment.” 10:19 “Love ye therefore the stranger: for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt.” 10:20 “Thou shalt fear the LORD thy God; Him shalt thou serve, (and our fellow brethren) and to Him shalt thou cleave, and swear by His Name.” Give of your substance, and more shall be given you. 10:21 “He is thy praise, and He is thy God, that hath done for thee.” Proverbs: 19:17 “He that hath pity upon the poor lendeth unto the Lord; and that which he hath given will He pay him again.” Proverbs: 3:27 “Withhold not good from them to whom it is due, when it is in the power of thine hand to do it.” Deuteronomy: 15:7 “If there be among you a poor man of one of thy brethren within any of thy gates in thy land which the LORD thy God giveth thee, thou shalt not harden thine heart, nor shut thine hand from thy poor brother;” 15:8 “But thou shalt open thine hand wide unto him, and shalt surely lend him sufficient for his need, in that which he wanteth.” CHRISTIANITY: Romans: 11:35 “Who hath first given to Him, and it shall be recompensed unto him again.” Romans: 11:36 “For of Him, and through Him, and to Him, are all things: to whom be glory forever.” 1 John: 3:17 “But whoso hath this world’s good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him.”

BAHA’I FAITH: “He, verily, shall recompense the charitable, and doubly repay them for what they have bestowed. No God is there but Him.”

(Bahá’í Faith, Baha’u’llah, Gleanings from the Writings of Baha’u’llah, p. 278)

 ISLAM: 245. “Who is he that will loan to Allah (God) a beautiful loan, which Allah will double unto his credit and multiply many times. It is Allah that giveth (you) want or plenty, and to Him shall be your return.”

(The Qur’an (Yusuf Ali tr), Surah   2)

 160. “He that doeth good shall have ten times as much to his credit: he that doeth evil shall only be recompensed according to his evil. No wrong shall be done unto (any of) them.”

(The Qur’an (Yusuf Ali tr), Surah   6)

 ZOROASTRIANISM: “A virtuous person does not shirk works of Spenta Manyu even if he is poor. The vicious even if he is well off cannot give up greed. The pious man is always true to his own self, whatever may be his circumstances. It requires great magnanimity to be able to give, without expecting a return.” (But) “How can the poor-in-heart say take without expecting a return?”  (ZOROASTER, Hymns of Atharvan p. 589)

 Denkard. Zoroaster, “Expend the wealth of this world for the sake of God, and employ it on actions pertaining to Him, and trust always in the Almighty, for He will be with you in such wise that you will become thereby the best in the body and the soul (mind). — (8) Exert yourself to store (pious) wealth (merit) for yourself in the next world, because only by the good which you do yourself, will you become a sharer in all the good deeds of the whole world.”

 HINDUISM: 234. “For whatever purpose a man bestows any gift, for that same purpose he receives, with due honour, its reward.” 235. “Both he who respectfully receives (a gift), and he who respectfully bestows it, go to heaven; in the contrary case (they both fall) into hell.”

(Hindu, Laws of Manu chapter 4)

 BUDDHISM: 13. “Miserly people certainly do not go to heaven. Fools for sure do not praise generosity, but the wise man who takes pleasure in giving is thereby happy hereafter.” 17. “If asked for little one should give. One may go, by these three means, To the presence of celestials.”

(Buddhist, Dhammapada – Sayings of the Buddhas 1 and 3 (tr. J. Richards))

 “People give according to their faith and as they are pleased. Whoso among them is envious Of others’ food and drink – He attains no peace of mind.” “Fools do not indeed praise liberality. The wise, however, rejoice in giving and thereby become happy hereafter.”

(Buddhist, Dhammapada – Sayings of the Buddha 3 (tr. J. Richards))

 SABEANISM: “To each according to the works of his hands It is awarded. Every man who toiled And was long-suffering shall come and take with both hands (and give according to his heart), But he who did not toil nor endure, Standeth empty in the House of Dues.” (Sabeanism, Ginza Rba- chapter 123)

 “Every man who giveth will be made to shine (doubly) On the day of deliverance.” (Sabeanism, Ginza Rba- chapter 76)

 BABI RELIGION: “Broadly regarded, Bábísm may be defined as a creed of charity, and almost of common humanity. Brotherly love, kindness to children, courtesy combined with dignity, sociability, hospitality, freedom from bigotry, friendliness even to Christians, are included in its tenets.”

(Moojan Momen, The Babi  and Baha’i Religions, p. 46)

 “He [the Bab] makes alms a strict obligation. He reminds the rich that they are only repositories, that no one on earth possesses anything, it all belongs to God. Consequently, the rich must give to religion and to those who have nothing or who do not have enough.”

(Moojan Momen, The Babi  and Baha’i Religions, p. 21)

BAHA’I FAITH: “He, verily, will pay the doer of good, whether man or woman, his due recompense, wert thou to follow what hath been sent unto thee by Him Who is the All-Knowing, the All-Informed.”

(Bahá’í Faith, Baha’u’llah, Epistle to the Son of the Wolf, p. 60)

“This is a Revelation, under which, if a man shed for its sake one drop of blood, myriads of oceans will be his recompense.”

(Bahá’í Faith, Baha’u’llah, Gleanings from the Writings of Baha’u’llah, p. 5)