The Course says, “To give is how to recognize you have received.” This changes how we understand love, healing, and even forgiveness. These aren’t things we keep in storage. They’re alive only when shared.
The Bible affirms this same idea, again and again.
In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus tells the disciples, “Freely you have received, freely give” (Matthew 10:8.) The rhythm of heaven moves through open hands. We’re not meant to hoard the grace that was never ours to begin with. We’re meant to pass it on — because that’s when we realize how full we already are.
The Book of Proverbs puts it another way. “A generous person will prosper. Whoever refreshes others will be refreshed” (Proverbs 11:25.) That refreshment doesn’t wait for payment or praise. It’s built into the act itself. We bless others, and something in us is lifted. We offer healing, and something in us is healed. Forgiveness moves in both directions at once.
Lesson 159 talks about Christ’s vision — a way of seeing that reflects eternal love. It’s called a miracle, not because it’s rare, but because it’s rooted in a world most of us forgot. This vision sees through fear. It recognizes the innocence behind every defense. It sees the light in others and reminds us that same light lives in us, too.
Paul speaks of this in his letter to the Corinthians. He says that God comforts us in our troubles so that we can comfort others from that same place. That line always moves me. It means our healing is never just for us. It’s meant to ripple outward. We carry what we’ve been given and it becomes a bridge for someone else.
Lesson 159 says the storehouse of miracles is already full. There’s no need that can’t be met. No lack that hasn’t already been answered. John says it simply — “From His fullness we have all received, grace upon grace” (John 1:16.) That kind of fullness doesn’t run dry. It doesn’t get used up. It expands each time we let it move through us.
Even the hard things — the parts of us that feel too broken or too guarded — are transformed in this giving. The lesson says that what was once a home for sin becomes a center of redemption. Isaiah echoes this. He says that when we pour ourselves out for the hungry, when we meet someone’s pain with our presence, then our light rises in the darkness. Then we become the light we thought we were missing.
Sometimes we think we’re not ready to give. That we don’t have enough peace yet, or enough healing, or enough certainty. But this lesson reminds us that giving is what brings the peace. That’s how the miracle becomes real. It was already placed in us — we’re just uncovering it.
When we step into this flow, we’re simply saying yes to what’s already moving through us. It’s about being willing. Willing to carry the love that’s already been placed in our hands. Willing to see with a vision that doesn’t judge or separate. Willing to say yes to a kind of mercy that welcomes everyone home — including ourselves.
That’s what we’ve been given. And that’s what we get to give.