Please Chime In!

In response to my Ash Wednesday post, "Anonymous" left the following question:

"I have a question and am wondering what people think.

If someone does something for you in secret, like God commands, and you as the grateful recipient then tell people about it, are you taking away the giver's blessing?"


These are my thoughts:

My only concern would be that you not tell others who the giver was, or give any indication as to their identity, while still giving God the glory for blessing you.

So what do you all think?
_____________________

As a post script, I just want to thank all of you who have responded. Those are great, insightful answers! Anonymous, I hope you have checked in to see the responses!

Comments

Pat said…
I'm thinking that if someone does something for you in secret, how do you know who the giver was? I feel that telling others you've been blessed by Gods goodness through someone who is annonymous to you; God is glorified and that's a good thing, and no one else knows who gave the gift, so I don't think you are taking the givers blessing away at all.
My parents did something good for someone many years ago, I recall that these people were so blessed by their "unknown" giver that they couldn't wait to tell my parents how God blessed them. My parents were so touched that even though this person didn't know they were actually thanking their gift giver, it was as good as if they had. God blesses everyone and mostly importantly, He is glorified.
February 08, 2008 5:30 PM
Anonymous said…
I think God knows the intention of the giver and would therefore not withhold that blessing. It wouldn't make sense to me that He would take away a blessing from one person because of another person's actions (i.e. taking away the giver's blessing because the person receiving let out the secret).

That would also mean that the giver should be aware of his or her true motivations. Deep down, does the giver know that the receiver will tell people and that's really what the giver wants?

Sometimes people aren't even aware of their own true motives. Some people give so that they can receive thanks from the person receiving.

So I'm thinking that God would judge based on each individual's actions and motives, and not judge one based on the actions of another.

Having said all that, the truth is that I'm just one person and no theologian for sure, so my answer represents no authority on the subject - just my thoughts.
February 09, 2008 8:37 AM
Jada's Gigi said…
yep, tell it if you like..its your blessing to share...but keep them out of it if they so desire...the very act of obedience to God and of giving is such a blessing how could you take it away from them anyway? Besides if it really was done in secret...how do you know about it??
February 09, 2008 6:19 PM
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