In the midst of constant appeals for time, attention, and resources that foster cynicism and suspicion, Jesus declared that it is more blessed to give than to receive. The apostle Paul, whose life after his calling consisted of continuous sacrificial giving and who spoke these words while traveling toward imprisonment and death, repeated the statement to the Ephesian elders as a warning against attitudes of frustration and resignation amid coming troubles. Fear of future loss prompts hoarding and protection of possessions, yet surveys indicate that the anticipated disasters rarely occur. Peter, interrupted in his routine by a lifelong lame beggar at the temple gate, gave what he possessed in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, enabling the man to walk, leap, and praise God and thereby granting him a relationship with God rather than mere daily provision. This illustrates that spiritual resources cannot be retained without turning into something else, as keeping life results in its loss, desire becomes lust, peace becomes passivity, Christ becomes bigotry, and money becomes mammon. Five principles govern the process: sowing must precede reaping, as a farmer who plants no seed obtains no crop; the return may differ in kind from what is given, such as health, friends, or wisdom instead of money, preventing human nature from giving solely for identical repayment; generosity of spirit extends beyond material gifts to time, encouragement, correction, kindness, and sympathy; God stands at the foundation of supplying human need and increases the giver's capacity to give further, as a sower of five seeds may receive twenty-five; and God enriches the original giver to produce a harvest of liberality that yields thanksgiving both to Him and to the human channel of love. For every generous gift the giver therefore obtains more than the receiver, since God abundantly compensates and no one outgives Him, removing any basis for sarcasm or cynicism.