It is fun to run across gems in studying the Bible, and when one finds a statement of Jesus tucked away deep inside the book of Acts, it ought to make one pause and process it. Paul gave us this quote from Jesus in Acts 20:35, “It is more blessed to give than to receive.”
The word “blessed” is the same word found in the Beatitudes in Matthew 5, and the Greek word (makarios) simply means “happy.” “It is more happy to give than to receive.” Do you believe that? Wouldn’t you like the world to believe it? But Jesus said more than that.
There are three verbs in that sentence, and they are all in the Greek present tense, which denotes an ongoing, habitual practice. The verse literally says, “It keeps on being more happy to keep on giving than to keep on receiving.” This is not a one-time thing—this is a lifestyle thing. It ought to make us “ongoing happy” to be an “ongoing giver.” There are, no doubt, many reasons for that, but at the top of the list is being like our Lord (John 3:16; 1 John 3:16; Eph. 5:2)!