It is more Blessed to Give than to Receive, or IS it?

Hi dearest friends,

 

I am laughing at the Lord’s sense of humor to have me write this blog in the season of ThanksGIVING and exchanging GIFTS for the holidays.  [Just wait: later you’ll understand the irony of this topic at this specific time of year..patience, my friend, patience.] 

 

Anywho, lately the Lord has brought to my awareness that it is hard for me to:

A.) Ask for help

B.) Receive freely without the compulsion to earn it first or give back something of equal/greater value 

 

And, I’m presuming that many of you identify with this, too. You see, our culture teaches us that we are “strong, independent” men/women and “I don’t need nobody else.”  One is looked upon as “weak” if he is forced to rely upon others and cannot fend for himself. It is a struggle for both men and women in different ways. We naturally are prideful and don’t want to admit that we cannot do it on our own and we desire to maintain control of our lives and be self-sufficient without needing to depend on another. 

 

But, you see, God did not create us to be independent but INTERdependent. By His very being as Three-in-One, the Holy Trinity in perfect relationship Father/Son/Holy Spirit, God demonstrates that we too, are meant to be in relationship with Him and others and that this is His brilliant design. It doesn’t work, or at least not well, when we isolate ourselves and try to satisfy all our needs ourselves. We are not meant to be islands, friends. We are meant to be in relationship.

 

Let’s take it way waaaaay back to the beginning. God created the heavens and the earth.  I maintain that Father/ Son/Spirit created the earth/ animals/ plants/ humans for the primary purpose of sharing and multiplying their love with others outside of themselves and their perfect trinitarian union.  They were/ are so full to the brim with mutual love/ respect for each other as equals in the Godhead that they chose to create living beings, and especially humans, to share their love with as they could hardly contain it within themselves but so desired to pour it out on others. We truly were Born/ Created TO BE LOVED. 

God did not need anything from us; He did not lack anything that we as humans could satisfy. He simply wanted to be in relationship with us to love us, no matter if we loved him back in return. His heart’s desire is for us to choose (He’s a gentleman; He doesn’t force us) to love Him back and communicate with Him as a friend/lover, but His love for us doesn’t change based on our acknowledgement of/ belief in/ or love for Him. 

 

Let that sink in, my friend. His reckless, all-consuming, extravagant love for you CANNOT AND WILL NOT CHANGE based on anything you do. He loves you because He loves you because He loves you. He deems you WORTHY of all His never-ending, unfathomable love simply because He created you to love you. Jesus came not to demonstrate your worth to the Father but to demonstrate your worth TO YOU. You were/are worth so much that He died to demonstrate the extent of His love for you.  

 

The Father and Jesus are One so the Father has called you worthy of love since the beginning, since your conception and even before that. He died for you, not because you were a worthless sinner, but because you were His priceless treasure, His beloved child, and He wanted to reconcile you back to your Good Loving Father. He didn’t know any other way than suffering and dying as a human sacrifice to prove His love for you, take back what the enemy had stolen from man, and open wide the gates into the Kingdom. 

 

Okay, back to creation. Stay with me, y’all. 🙂

 

In the creation order, God waited until the last day to form the crown of creation: man and woman.  At the closing of every other day, He said it was “good.”  However, He didn’t have the same sentiments after he created the man, Adam. “‘Then the Lord God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.’” (Genesis 2:18).  God created the woman from the man’s side and thereby ordained marriage/ covenantal relationships and solidified for us that we as people are not meant to be isolated but that we are literally created for communion with the Divine and with each other. 

 

Friends:

We cannot fully experience the Love of the Father if we do not humble ourselves and reach out to Him/ others when we are in need. We MUST learn to receive without the pressure of giving anything back in return. Don’t get me wrong. It truly is “more blessed to give than to receive” (Acts 20:35). But, this message has been pounded into us from Day 1 of Sunday School.  What I’m speaking of today is the absolute necessity of establishing a heart posture capable of receiving. After all, if we cannot receive from God and other believers, then what do we have in us to give away?  How can we give away what we have not first received? 

 

If you have not received the revelation of how much God loves you and it hasn’t transformed you, then you cannot give it away.

 

If you have not received healing of your heart in a certain area, then you cannot overflow with that same impartation to heal others.

 

Etc etc. 

 

We are robbing ourselves and others when we don’t sit at Jesus’ feet and simply receive. First, we must receive from Him. Then, we are able to receive from others.  

 

My friend challenged me recently when she said, “What aspect of God are you missing out on when you don’t allow others to give to you and when you hinder others from blessing you in your time of need?”  I was struck to the core. Because, we as Christians, are so darn programmed to pour out and give and do, do, do. And, honestly, it feeds into the striving/ performance mindset that we have to perform/ do to be DEEMED WORTHY/LOVED. But, remember, we are human beings, not human doings. We exist for the sole purpose of being loved by God and in turn, loving others with the Love of Christ in us. 

 

So, my challenge to you this holiday season (you knew there would be homework, wink wink)

is to contemplate your responses to these questions and sit on them with the Lord:

1. How do you receive love?

2. Is it hard for you to ask for help? Why do you think that is?

3. Are there any roots/ wounds/ trauma in your life that makes it hard for you to receive/ be loved?

4. Do you pour out/ give away from an overflow or from your human strength/ empty cup?

5. What are ways you can activate this in your life and invite others into your journey of learning to receive more easily from God/ others?

6. What are practical steps you can take to reach out to others with a need in the next few months vs trying to do it all on your own?

 

Love you all dearly!  Per usual, I am working this out in my own life as we speak and always growing and learning. 

 

Merry Christmas!  Know that you are dearly and wholly loved just as you are, perfect and wonderful!

 

All my love,

Raina