April 15, 2012:

It Can Also Be Blessed To Receive

Sometimes it’s difficult to receive from another person. Receiving can make us feel vulnerable, guilty, under obligation to give back. It can be uncomfortable being a receiver. I ought to know; I’m one of the uncomfortable receivers. I would much rather be a giver. How about you?

Giving puts us in charge. Receiving can seem like an act of weakness. Giving says we are the ones who have what we need. Receiving means someone thinks we don’t "have it all." It can be especially difficult to receive help. "Please, I can do it myself!"

Personally, I have always found it difficult to receive compliments. I would far rather be the person giving praise and thanks to others. I think — even after all these years — it makes me uncomfortable because I have a bit of low self-esteem. "I don’t really deserve the nice things being said about me." Perhaps, you have the same response.

But good psychology as well as good religion says that to be a healthy person we must not only be generous givers but also grateful receivers. My Christian faith reminds me that without doing anything to earn it or deserve it, God has show grace to me. You and I are loved by God without having to do a thing. Absolutely nothing.

Maybe, just maybe, the only way we can truly receive that grace, that love, is by a willingness to share it with others, especially the unlovely and the unlovable. That’s a challenge but it is the only way to be both a grateful receiver and a generous giver of all that God has done for us.

Love,
Dave