"God has given us two hands, one to receive with and the other to give with"
About this Quote
The intent is pastoral and practical. Graham isn't praising self-denial for its own sake, and he isn't flirting with the prosperity gospel's transactional "give to get" pitch. He's normalizing both dependency and obligation: receiving isn't shameful, giving isn't optional. In a culture that treats need as a personal failure, he offers a counter-script where acceptance and generosity are paired virtues, not opposing identities. You can be helped and still be honorable; you can have plenty and still be accountable.
The subtext carries a quiet rebuke of two familiar American postures: rugged individualism ("I don't need anyone") and private hoarding ("It's mine"). Graham frames both as forms of spiritual amputation. If you only receive, you become entitled; if you only give, you become performative, a saint who can't admit weakness. The balance he proposes is relational, not heroic.
Context matters: Graham's ministry sat at the crossroads of mass revivalism and mid-century American prosperity, when televised faith met consumer comfort. The quote works because it compresses a whole social theology into a human gesture: open palms, one turned outward, one turned in.
Quote Details
| Topic | God |
|---|---|
| Source | Later attribution: The WillPower Advantage (Tom Peterson, Ryan Hanning, 2020) modern compilationISBN: 9781642291407 · ID: zNMBEAAAQBAJ
Evidence:
... Billy Graham explained , " God has given us two hands , one to receive with and the other to give with . We are not cisterns made for hoarding ; we are channels made for sharing . " 1 Most people would probably agree that they would be ... |
| Cite |
Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
Graham, Billy. (2026, February 16). God has given us two hands, one to receive with and the other to give with. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/god-has-given-us-two-hands-one-to-receive-with-30195/
Chicago Style
Graham, Billy. "God has given us two hands, one to receive with and the other to give with." FixQuotes. February 16, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/god-has-given-us-two-hands-one-to-receive-with-30195/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"God has given us two hands, one to receive with and the other to give with." FixQuotes, 16 Feb. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/god-has-given-us-two-hands-one-to-receive-with-30195/. Accessed 18 Feb. 2026.









