Giver or Taker?

No one has ever become poor by giving.
~ Anne Frank

Perhaps you have met one of these people.. they are always seeking ways to help others. They are ever ready with a helping hand, a plate of food, or a shoulder to cry on. These are the givers. If they know you have need of what they have, it's yours. When you just need someone to talk to, they are always there to listen. They are givers.

I know you've met the other person, this type is ever so much more plentiful, unfortunately. They are only worried about themselves and what they can get out of life. Their main concern is their own happiness, even if it comes at the expense of the joy of others. These are the takers. They take without ever giving back. They take and take as long as you have something they want, then when they have exhausted a resource, they move on to greener pastures. They are takers.

We live in a world of takers. The new philosophy is to look out for number one, yourself. Obviously, this is not God's philosophy. Luke 6: 38 states that we are to give, and when we give, we will receive even more abundance than what we gave away.

How would the world be different if we lived in a world of givers? Just imagine... Those that are so concerned about what they can get have such a small world. When a person is concerned only about himself or herself, life can be so depressing. When one sits around thinking about how rotten life has treated them and how they deserve so much more, they will teeter on the brink of depression. The best antidote for this type of depression is to get outside of self and seek how one can help others.

Jesus tells us in Luke 6:35, that we are to be willing to lend (or give) not expecting return, but that we will be rewarded for our giving. Sometimes that reward doesn't come for a while. Sometimes the reward will be when we least expect it. And sometimes the best reward is the look of joy on the face of the one receiving what you have given.

The first part of verse thirty-five tells us to love our enemies. In other words, we are not just to give to those that we love or even like. But we are to be willing to give to those that don't even like us! Ouch! That's getting down to the nitty gritty! But that is when we are truly giving of Christ's love.

So what is it that you have to give? Many of us do not have unlimited financial resources, but we might have time or love to share. And how much RICHER we will be, because we have given it away!

Choices

So do the choices we make really matter? Why not just have a little bit of fun? You're only young once, right? Hmm.... you've probably heard something like that before. The problem with that kind of logic is that choices really DO matter. Each decision you make is effecting the direction your life is going. (books, music, food, habits, friends.... just fill in the blank!) I got this article in my inbox today and I thought it was very thought provoking. It is from the Family Life Marriage Memos newsletter.

The article starts out with a story about two high school girls who were great friends. After their graduation, they took a trip with a group of friends. The trip ended up as one big party. One of the girls, Merry, was very uncomfortable and chose not to take part in all the "activities." The other entered right in. Years later, Merry is happily married and very involved in Christian ministery, but what about her friend?

For a number of years, Merry wondered what happened to her childhood friend, whom I will call Karen. After that week at Daytona Beach, Merry and Karen saw each other a few times and then drifted apart.

Then, about 15 years after they graduated from high school, Merry received a surprise phone call from Karen. As they caught up with what had happened over the years, Karen told a sad story of failed relationships, alcoholism, and drug abuse. She clearly was not happy with the direction her life had taken.

Merry remarked that she was a bit surprised, because during high school Karen did not appear to be on that path. “What happened?” she asked.

Karen replied, “Remember that week in Daytona Beach?” She didn’t realize this at the time—she just thought she was having fun—but the choices she made that week started her on a dangerous path. One choice led to another, and then to another, and the longer she stayed on that path, the harder it was to step off it.

In many ways, life is a series of choices. Some of these choices announce themselves with the blare of a marching band, like they did that week at Daytona for Merry and Karen. Others appear as a faint whisper in your ear. Yet at some point it seems that each choice comes down to a simple question: Are you going to follow the path of wisdom or the path of foolishness?

Sometimes we don’t fully realize the implications of our choices—how they will affect our future, and how they affect our relationships.

So what about the choices that you are making? You may not think that they are having a lasting effect on your life, but are they? Even the things that we put in our minds, what we hear, read or see, those things are always going to be there and effect us whether we realize it or not. Our prayer needs to be for help to be pure in our actions and choices and to always decide to do the things that honors Christ. We never know where our choices, good or bad, are going to lead.

Life...

Sometimes the things that happen in our lives just don't seem to make sense. If you are like me, you have sometimes wondered, "why me?" Maybe a better question would be "why not me?" Just because we are Christians doesn't make us immune to life - with all its ups and downs. We don't often have a choice of events that happen to us. The choice does come in how we decide to react to the events in our lives. For illustration, allow me to quote Janette Oke in her book, Once Upon A Summer. The hero of the story, a young boy named Josh, just got his first dog and the next day Patches was kicked by a cow. His Aunt Lou (about five years older) comes in to comfort him.

I was fightin' an inward battle now. I was still angry and wantin' to strike back.
"He still didn't need to take my dog."
"Josh, God didn't take your dog. It was jest - Jest one of those things that happens, that's all."
"But He coulda stopped it."
Auntie Lou hesitated a moment as she carefully thought through her next words.
"Yes, He could have. He could let us go through all of our life, bundlin' us and shelterin' us from anything and everything that would hurt us. I could do that with my petunias, Josh. I could build a box around them and keep them from the wind and the rain, the crawlers and the bees. What would happen iffen I did that, Josh?"
I jest shrugged. The answer was too obvious.
"They'd never bear flowers," said Auntie Lou.
"Josh, I don't understand all about God, but there's one thing that I'm as sure of as the fact that I live and breathe. He loves us. He loves us completely, and always keeps our good in mind.
"I don't know how losin' your pup is for your good, Josh, but I am sure that it can be or God wouldn't have let it happen It's all up to you, Josh. Whenever something comes into our life that hurts us, we do the decidin' - do I let this work for my good, as God intended, or do I let bitterness grow like a bothersome canker sore in my soul?
"We love you, Josh - every one of us. We don't want to see you hurt. It's happened now. We can't change it, but don't give the hurt a chance to grow even bigger and destroy you. God loves you. He can help you with the hurt if you ask Him to; accept that even this can be for your good. Try, Josh. Please try."
Auntie Lou bent down and kissed me. Her cheeks were wet as they touched mine. She left the room.

So you have a decision, just like Josh does. Life will send you some tough blows, if it hasn't already, than be prepared. We still live in a sinful, human world. You can't control your situations, but you can control how you will react to those situations. You can decide to cast blame, either on God, others or yourself. You can allow yourself to grow bitter and ugly inside. Or you can ask God to take whatever you are going through and allow it to make you into a better, more beautiful person. The choice is totally up to you. Remember, God loves you completely and He can and will use each situation for your own good, if you let Him.

"Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee." Jeremiah 31:3