Receiving and Giving

We must receive in order to pour out. When we receive love, compassion, mercy, and so on from God we are able to give love, compassion, mercy and so on. The Bible says in 1 John 4:19 that we love because He first loved us. When we receive, we are able to overflow with His goodness and pour good fruit onto others. This is not talking about selfishness such as we can only give if we receive. Not at all. It's more about overflowing with God's goodness, passion and love. It's also knowing and learning how to give. If we have never received love, we would not know how to give love. Therefore, God teaches us how to love because He is love and He first loved us. As it states in John 3:16, "For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life." Once we know what love is and have received it in abundance, we are able to pour this love onto others.