Learn How to Share

Do you have children? How about a niece, a nephew, a little cousin, or a student? If we’ve ever had small children in our lives, it’s very likely we’ve had to remind them to share at some point in time. Whether it was to allow another child to also play with a certain toy or to give another person even one of their two hundred Cheerios, children have to be taught and reminded to share.

This morning when I woke up and opened my Bible, I realized I failed to put my bookmark in the place where I left off yesterday. When I flipped the pages to get back to the Book of Acts, I landed on a page where I had boldly highlighted one particular verse on some previous time I had read it. It was Acts 4:32, “All the believers were united in heart and mind. And they felt that what they owned was not their own, so they shared everything they had.”

There were so many things that got my attention through this verse that there was no need for me to flip back to the second chapter to pick up where I left off. I just sat with this one verse for a little while. It’s still really fresh and I know I need to sit with it longer, but even the initial things we can take from this one verse are worth noting.

All the believers. I didn’t even make it past the first three words before I had to pause. Did Luke just say ALL? When was the last time you were able to get ALL the believers you know to come together? I mean, even pre-pandemic, we have so many excuses as to why we can’t join together as a body of believers. Can you imagine what we could accomplish if we simply went from some to all?

Were united. Not only did they all come together, but they all were united! This absolutely should be included in the list of supernatural miracles that took place in the Book of Acts! In today’s society we are so opinionated, selfish, and controlling that unity is rarely attainable even amongst some, let alone all.

In heart and mind. They didn’t just come together because they knew they should (mind), they came together because the love of God in them drew them together (heart). They didn’t just get together to work on a project (mind), they joined together to fulfill God’s purpose (heart). They didn’t just meet to think and reason (mind), they assembled to love and to give (heart). They didn’t just tolerate each other (mind), they treasured one another (heart). 

And they felt what they owned was not their own. Okay. I know I’m stepping on some toes now! I can hear some of you saying, “What do you mean what I own is not my own? I worked hard for this. I bought it with my own hard-earned money. My name’s on it.” While I can appreciate how you feel, let’s just take a moment to notice that because the believers in the Book of Acts chose to feel a different way, they were able to produce a different result (see verses 34-35). And you know whose Name they were able to put on the results they produced? Jesus!

So they shared. It was that simple. They shared. It didn’t say they worried about what they didn’t have, they simply shared what they did have. They weren’t concerned about somebody else having more than them, they just wanted to ensure every need was met. They didn’t view what they had as a competition. They viewed what they had as complementary.

Everything they had. Man… All these absolutes in one verse! First, we had to wrap our brains around all. Now, we have to deal with everything. You want to know what’s funny? I literally just looked up the word everything in the dictionary, and you want to know what it means? It means all! They shared ALL they had. They didn’t pick and choose. They didn’t share only what they didn’t want. They didn’t tuck some away for a rainy day. They shared everything they had.

You know, we read a verse like this and it sounds impossible to do. We even rationalize it by thinking things like, “Well, we live in a totally different day and time. They could do that then, but we can’t do that now. They only had a little, so that made it easy for them to share everything.” Wait a minute. Did you hear what you just said? Essentially, without us even realizing it, in today’s society the mindset we’re developing is – the more we get, the less we share. I know you think if you get rich then you’ll share. But The Word of God always proves to be true and it says he who is faithful with little will be faithful with much. Rest assured, whatever you’re choosing to do with your little, is a great indication of what you would do with your much.

After reflecting on this verse, if I don’t know anything else I do know this… It doesn’t matter how young or how old we are, we all continuously need to be reminded that we need to learn how to share.

To go even deeper, get your copy of one or all of our Everyday Wisdom Book Series and subscribe to our Everyday Wisdom Podcast.