Freely

Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils: freely ye have received, freely give.  Matthew 10:8

Why it is so hard to:

1. Forgive
2. Love the unlovely
3. Give of our time
4. Give of our finances
5. Give of ourselves

How we often think:

1. If I have to work for my forgiveness, so should you. 
2. If I have to be kind and nice and friendly and etc., to be loved, so should you.
3. If I only have 24 hours in a day to get stuff done & I get it done, so should you.

Get the picture?

When I asked God, He directed me to Matthew 10:8. 

I know the Bible says if you don’t work, you shouldn’t eat (2 Thessalonians 3:10).  That a man who doesn't take care of his household is worse than an infidel (1 Timothy 5:8) but I want to talk about the freely receive part.  In truth, we can’t be good givers until we know how to receive. 

I know people who always have their hand out expecting you to fill it and get extremely upset if you don’t.

I know people who make it particularly difficult to do anything for them.  They don’t want to be beholden to anybody and will make you feel bad for try to do something for them.  Yet, they want to do for others and you are supposed to graciously accept their gift.

Neither attitude is right.  The balance?  Freely receive; freely give.

Over the last seven years, I have had to have a lot of help.  Although I was thankful for it (and hopefully the giver saw only that), I didn’t really freely receive.  It seriously irritated me that it seemed like I was always the one with my hand out. 

God took me to task for it.  I realized that, although I had freely received salvation, I believed I had to work for everything else.  So if I had to work for forgiveness, acceptance, healing, finances, etc…  Then add to that thinking it was never enough…  One messed up lady.  We have been working on that.  See, I have to freely receive from Him before I can freely give to someone else.

God gave us everything we need for life here and throughout eternity (2 Peter 1:3).  Freely receive it.  Freely give it.

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Holiday Memories

At The EastTexas Christian Writers' meeting this Tuesday, five ladies spoke about a story they had written for Christmas.  Here are the brief outlines for two of them.

Linda Burklin spoke about an experience she had in South Africa (missionary kid) while helping some friends at their chicken farm around Christmas.  Anyone who has dealt with chickens was right there with her smelling the smells, feeling the muck, hearing the noise.  She also spoke about how it brought home the reality of Jesus, God Incarnate, coming down to the muck and mire of earth to become man and free us.  Very poignant.  

Patty Wiseman spoke of an aunt that felt like she was ‘lost in the shuffle’ her whole life.  One Christmas her siblings received new bicycles (the brothers-red; the sister-blue) and she got a stuffed toy because her parents couldn’t afford four new bikes.  She received a hand me down bike that didn’t have a seat.  Her father was supposed to fix it.  It never got fixed and she never got a new bike.  Her life went pretty much like that until after her kids were grown and she married a kind, thoughtful man.  One Christmas she came downstairs and there stood her husband by the tree with a brand new red bike.  Tissue anyone?

Everyone has memories of the holiday season.  Some good; some not so good.  How we handle them determines how our holidays go.  I know it is not always easy to let go of things (see last week’s blog, Regret).  Still, it is a choice.  Do we let them pull us down or do we remember the good stuff?

I know people who look forward to Christmas all year and those who do their best to make themselves and everyone around them miserable from October through the New Year.  Having dealt with both, I know what it is like to swing from “Oh pu-lease” (the chirpiness does sometimes get to you) to fighting to keep from becoming ‘bah humbug’ myself. 

The challenge:

If your memories are not good ones or if the last few years have gone south, determine today to stop dwelling on that and begin creating new memories.  Families are not just blood.  They come in all shapes and sizes.  Be open and allow family to gather round you this holiday season.

My prayer for you:

May the peace of God still your soul and fill your heart and house in the coming year.