We would like tonight to speak about the Holy Spirit who is given, the Bestower, who continually gives and pours Himself out. So that we can say that giving is an attribute of God.

The Holy Spirit Who Is Given

From the beginning, the tenderness of the Holy Spirit appeared. He gave existence to nature: “We send forth Our Spirit, and they are created.” And the Holy Spirit was “hovering over the face of the waters,” until He created from this water every living soul (Gen. 1:2).

The Spirit of God is the One who gave us life, when the Lord breathed into us the breath of life, and we became living souls. He gave us existence, and gave us life, and gave us immortality, and gave us to be in His image and likeness. And He gave us a thinking mind. And He granted us gifts that we cannot limit.

The Holy Spirit is generous in His giving. When He gave offspring to Abraham, He made His gift like the stars of heaven and the sand of the sea in multitude. And as the Scripture says, “He gives the Spirit without measure,” “He gives generously and without reproach.”

The Holy Spirit who is given is the One who gives the spiritual gifts…

These gifts were spoken of by Paul the Apostle in his First Epistle to the Corinthians. He said, “There are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit… But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all: for to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, to another the word of knowledge according to the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healings by the same Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy…” (1 Cor. 12). But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually as He wills.

The Holy Spirit goes about doing good, granting people gifts and talents. Indeed, every good we have is a gift to us from the Spirit: “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights.”

Every good in us is a gift from Him. Therefore, no person has the right to boast in himself. For he has not made anything by himself, but has received… If anyone boasts, then let him boast in the Lord.

The Spirit gives everything, even the words that we speak.

Paul the Apostle says: Pray for me “that utterance may be given to me when I open my mouth.” And the Lord says to us, “It is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father.” And we say of this Spirit in the Creed that He is “who spoke by the prophets.”

Ask yourself then: Is every word you utter from the Spirit, or did you speak it in a human way?

Every virtue you have is from the fruits of the Spirit in your life.

And in this the Apostle says: “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.” It is the Holy Spirit whose gifts are poured out upon the children of God. The Spirit whom the Apostles could not begin preaching without, until He gave them power from Himself.

If the Holy Spirit is the One who gives, then surely this makes us persevere in prayer, in order that we may receive His gifts and His fruits.

The Lord Christ rebuked His disciples and said to them, “Until now you have asked nothing… Ask… that your joy may be full.” “Ask, and you will receive.”

The gifts of the Spirit are wondrous, in their abundance and in their quality…

He opens to us the powers of heaven, until we say, “It is enough, it is enough.”

He gives us a good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, which He puts into our bosom. His gifts to us are not only in our life, but even before our birth.

The birth of a person into the world is a gift from God.

In this the Psalm says, “Children are a heritage from the Lord.” And the Scripture says, “The Lord opened the womb of Rachel, and she conceived.” And Hannah (the mother of Samuel) prayed to the Lord saying, “If You will indeed give Your maidservant a male child…”

How beautiful it is for parents to feel that their children are a gift from God, as the prophet says, “Here am I and the children whom the Lord has given me.”

If children are a gift from God, let us thank the Lord for them. You have been given by the Lord to your family and to the Church. And we bless marriage, feeling that offspring is a gift from God, not the work of man.

You are indebted to God for your existence, for your birth, for your life, for your mind, for your talents; all are gifts from the Spirit, and you have no merit in them.

Your spiritual life—like your physical life—is also a gift from God.

The Spirit is the One who gives you repentance, because He “convicts you of sin.” And He is the One who urges you on the path of righteousness. There is no righteousness in us except that we have received it. And as long as we have received it, we do not boast.

The Holy Spirit is the One who gives you the second birth in Baptism, as you are born of water and the Spirit. And throughout your life you live spiritually by the grace given to you from the Spirit, as Paul the Apostle says, “According to the grace given to me.”

Our fathers used to feel the gift of the Spirit, so they did not glorify their human arm, but glorified the gift of God.

The Holy Spirit is the One who gives power, authority, gifts, and the fruits of the Spirit. He gives sanctification and every good gift.

He gives to each person the talents with which he trades. So let not the one who received five talents boast over the one who received two. For both heard from the Lord the same blessedness.

Everything we receive from the Spirit, even the prayer with which we pray—for we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but He Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.

In the Midnight Prayer we ask for tears and repentance as a gift from God, saying: “Grant me, O Lord, fountains of many tears, as You granted of old to the sinful woman.” Therefore, let us ask.

If we do not receive, it is because we are negligent in asking. Yet He sometimes gives without our asking, because He knows our needs.

But if our failure to ask is due to self-reliance without God, the Spirit may leave us until we are certain of the failure of that self, and we resort to the Spirit.

A person goes to meet an important man, and keeps thinking, “I will say this to him, and answer that.” Another person prays on the way, saying, “Grant me, O Lord, favor in the eyes of this person, and give me the words I shall say to him.” Therefore, if what he desires is accomplished, he thanks the Lord.

The gifts of the Spirit, as they teach us prayer, also teach us thanksgiving, and our feeling that everything we have is a gift from God also brings us into a life of love, not only a life of prayer and thanksgiving.

How beautiful it is to enter the church, or our homes, and feel that everything in them is a gift from God: the building, the furniture, the people.

Our feeling of God’s gift also brings us into peace of heart, into a life of faith, a life of assurance and trust.

We trust that God who gave in the past will also give now and in the future. We trust that giving is part of His nature. He will surely give. He gives good things, and gives solutions to every problem. He gives to the righteous and to the wicked.

If we know that God gives, and gives continually, let us also learn the life of giving, for the Scripture says, “It is more blessed to give than to receive.”

There are people who have the gift of giving. They find pleasure in giving and seek it. If they do not give, their hearts grow weary.

They also give without being asked. They are lovers of giving.

They search for the needs of people and present them to them without being asked. They have a special sensitivity in understanding the needs of others.

A person does not suffice in occasions by sharing people in their sorrows and problems, but contributes practically—and perhaps materially also—in solving those problems. By his sensitivity in service he perceives what they need and offers them giving—without their asking—in love and in secret.

Another person sits at the table and senses the need of everyone sitting with him—in food, drink, and comfort—and gives, presents, and serves, with a social spirit and a spirit of giving, as a serving person.

And not only in personal matters, but in church matters as well.

They find the church has undertaken a project, and they quickly come forward to contribute to it. They do not suffice with merely praising the project or with moral encouragement, but give for its success all that they can. You feel that their spirit is with you, and that their hearts and their money are with you also.

There are people who give only advice and suggestions, and offer nothing but words. But love “is not in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth,” as the Apostle said (1 John 3:18).

All these are better than those who give nothing at all, not even encouragement, and they are better than those who criticize.

Train yourself to give. And if you are unable to offer something, or are among “those who desire to offer but have nothing,” then at least offer a gentle smile, or a word of encouragement, or offer moral participation or good counsel.

The important thing is that you give something, whatever that thing may be…

An article by His Holiness Pope Shenouda III in El-Keraza Magazine – Year Seven (Issue Twenty-Seven) – 2-7-1976.

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