Jesus said, “Give and gifts will be given to you; a good measure, packed together, shaken down, and overflowing, will be poured into your lap. For the measure with which you measure will in return be measured out to you.”

Luke 6:38

Jesus tells that when we give, we open ourselves to God’s blessing. He uses the image of people being at a market. To make sure someone was getting their money’s worth, grain would be shaken to show it was a fair amount for the money given. Jesus says that when we give, we receive back from God — except we don’t get what we have given, we receive an abundance more that is overflowing.

We give to God as a sign of our gratitude, but we cannot out-give God. As St. Ignatius Loyola noted, we will sooner tire of receiving God’s gifts and blessing than he will of giving to us. Giving and gratitude open us up to more of God’s blessing.

Thank God today for the abundance he has given you.