The Spiritual Value of Sharing
Geetings, brothers and sisters. This is Dr. James Perry continuing with our series where we seek to
explore the deeper meanings of our relationship with Jesus Christ. Over the years, the heavenly
Father has revealed many revelations of spiritual truth to me, and I want to share them with you. This
morning we seek to understand the spiritual value of sharing.
And now, sit back and listen to today's message.
The Spiritual Value of Sharing
"And all that believed were together, and had all things in common; And sold all their
possessions and goods, and parted them to all men, as every man had need. " Acts, Chapter
2, Verses 44-45.
Brothers and sisters, we are separate beings with minds that are isolated from each other. No other
human being has the power to know what another human is thinking. We may approximate what
another human may do under a given set of circumstances only because we have observed the
individual over a period of time. But this is not the same as having first-hand information from
another human being's mind. But even though we can't tell what another is thinking ordinarily, our
collective well beings depends on what each of us are thinking. And the only way that we can know
what another person is thinking is for that other person to share their thoughts.
Being experiencing creatures, we must discover everything about the world that we live in. All the
laws governing material reality have to be laboriously discovered in order for us to make progress
and to improve our material status on earth. "No man is an island" is a saying that fits this description
of us. We are interdependent. All current levels of world progress are the result of individual
discoveries being made and subsequently shared. We all have different talents, so no one person has
all the information that is necessary to move forward in this life. We all have the ability to discover
a small fragment of the finite information that is constantly being revealed because of someone
seeking it. Immediately we can think of numerous occasions where this has happened. In fact we
have universities, think-tanks, businesses, and other institutions where individuals are massed for
the sole purpose of discovering new information that eventually becomes the possession of all us.
We all know the benefits of sharing our emotions, especially distressing ones. And even though
sharing them does not necessarily remove the reality that is causing them, it does release emotional
pressure. This is important because negative psychic energy plays havoc within the mental life. The
energy from distressing emotions cannot be harmonized and utilized in solving distressing problems.
Releasing emotional pressure allows reason to assert itself and to adjust to the situation at hand.
Often we discover that our emotional reaction is out of proportion to the actual situation, more a
product of our worst fears. Of course we are all aware of the exhilarating state of sharing positive
emotions that result from positive experiences. And all who participate share the benefits.
Too often we inhibit ourselves from sharing because of selfishness, suspicion, erroneous teaching,
and in some cases bad experiences, especially when we have shared things of a personal nature and
received negative repercussions. But despite these sometimes ill-advised and wisdom-deficient
sharing, it is generally still good to share. Being imperfect creatures, we can readily understand that
sometimes our judgement is not up to the task. But experience corrects these deficiencies with the
buttress of wisdom. There is nothing like a trusted empathic friend to share our emotions with. But
even more important, the practice of sharing is God's will.
God the Father shares all with His Son, while they both bestow themselves upon the Spirit. Thus the
Son is the Word of the Father while the Spirit is the Act of the Father. And this pattern propagates
throughout the whole universe. Sharing becomes at once Godlike as well as the mode in which God
is shared with others. The Father's spirit lives within the minds and souls of his children, and he is
constantly seeking to reveal truth to them through His Son, Jesus, who is the Truth. The reception
of truth is determined by capacity as well as desire and experience. Each individual is different, so
each person's interpretation of the meaning of the truth will differ. As the spiritual Father seeks to
reveal truth to his children, his manifestation in each child is likely to be partial and incomplete due
the child's status. But just as in the material example, we should understand that when we share our
experience (truth) with the Father with others, we all become better for it.
One person may receive a truth that someone else has not. When this truth is shared both parties
benefit. The one who shared the truth benefits because now this truth moves from a subjective
experience to an objective one. In short this truth becomes realized, and once truth is realized it has
the power to liberate the individual. It does this because it modifies the value system, modifies the
attitude, the desire, the meaning, and thus modifies the decisions that are made so that they more
nearly approach the value, the attitude, the meaning, and the decision of the Father. Sharing truth is
an exhilarating and joyful experience. Discovering truth is the chief delight of the soul. The person
who receives new truth becomes enlightened and challenged to experience and realize it also. And
we know what a joy it is to grasp a truth that has been shared with us, and then to go on to experience
it for ourselves. Such an experience is truly a divine one.
Sharing truth with one another increases our capacity to experience more and greater truth. The more
truth we can experience, the more this truth gives way to the greatest of them all: God is love. This
truth, though, can only be experienced by sharing it. And then we go on to grasp the truth that God
is our Father and we are his sons and daughters. But we can never lock away the love of the Father
in our hearts. It becomes unreal and thus a purely philosophical abstraction. The Father's love is
eternal and exists whether or not we experience it.
Since we are experiencing creatures, the only way we can experience the Father's love is to share it
with others. As this love passes through our minds and souls to another, it bathes us with its
nourishing and sustaining power. This love makes us aware of the value that the Father has for each
of us. It makes us feel secure, and inspires us to attempt to master ourselves: to be perfect even as
the heavenly Father is perfect. It causes us to realize that regardless of material upheavals, we live
in a friendly universe. Because He lives, there is a tomorrow; and if he lives and there is a tomorrow,
we too shall live to see tomorrow, to continue in his glorious love, to continue to discover new
aspects of this love, and to share it as we bestow it. And one day, Oh! that glorious day in eternity,
we shall be embraced in his presence, and hear him say: "Welcome home, my child."
This concludes today's message on understanding the spiritual value of sharing. We hope you find
something in this message to ponder and pray about as you go about your day.
Until next time, this is Dr. James Perry
Inspirational Messages
By Dr. James Perry
Your Kingdom Come, Your Will Be Done!
The Spiritual Value of Sharing
