Acts 20:34

I coveted no man's silver, or gold, or apparel. Ye yourselves know that these hands ministered unto my necessities, and to them that were with me. In all things I gave you an example, that so laboring ye ought to help the weak, and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that he himself said, It is more blessed to give than to receive.

Paul worked as a tent-maker to earn funds for himself and his co-workers on the mission field; and the imagination quite easily sees the gesture which accompanied the words, "these hands."

I gave you an example ... Nothing corrupts religion any more rapidly than the provision of rich emoluments for its teachers, the emoluments having a tendency to attract self-seekers who care not for the truth, but only for the emoluments and perquisites. Paul set an example of faith that shall live forever. This is not to deny faithful ministers of the word their right of maintenance, which Paul himself diligently defended, but to point out the undeniable danger.

More blessed to give than to receive ... How opposite to the convictions of men are these words! In a society where the end and all of living is "getting," these words have a heavenly ring. Is it not strange that no other New Testament writer ever mentioned such a word as this spoken by the Lord, and that it remained for one who himself had given so much to remember and record it for the ages to come?