The Blessing of Receiving
If you are visiting from Encouragement for Today, welcome.
The main point of today’s devotion was to challenge us to sacrificially give when God nudges us to do so, even if it may cause us a little inconvenience or the cost is a personal investment. I want to shift gears and look at the opposite of giving: receiving.
Receiving is not something we talk about very often. If we talk about receiving we may be perceived as selfish. In many cases it is difficult for the one receiving to relax and just accept the gesture of kindness. I know that for me personally when someone does something kind for me my first response is, “You shouldn’t have.” Followed by, “I can’t let you do this.” Concluding with, “I owe you.” Sound familiar? Perhaps your responses to gestures of kindness are like mine. I never thought much about the way I responded to the kindness of others until I heard a pastor say, “We are terrible receivers.” My spirit had to agree. We are. I am.
The challenge of the devotion was to be a good giver. The challenge of this post is to be a good receiver. When someone does something kind for you, just simply say thank you instead of giving reasons why “they shouldn’t have.” If it is truly more blessed to give than receive then not accepting the kindness of others without argument is robbing the giver of their blessing. Think about it?