Giver or Taker...

We have the prerogative to decide if we are going to be a giver or a taker in life.  God is definitely a Giver....John 3:16 says, He gave us His Son...but He doesn't force us to take Him.  We get the choice.  We are not forced into marriage.  We choose our spouse.  We are not forced into a job. We can accept or decline the offer.  We are not required by law to eat certain foods. We get to pick. No one says we have to be angry all the time.  We decide that on our own.  Now,  I know that circumstances are sometimes out of our control, and we can't always choose what happens to us...but we sure can choose our response.  Inevitably, we are were we are by the choices we make or the ones we allow others to make for us.  This statement made me angry for years.  I'm an arguer by nature,(some people call that the bull headed Italian in me) and when something goes wrong I would like to blame anyone but myself.  I actually will fight even when I know I am wrong...I'm working on that one:) When a good friend and business mentor of mine told me, "Gale, you will do great things and you will move forward in this business when you decide to.  You are the only one standing in your way."  I resented her statement.  You see, I wanted to tell her, "No, it's not my fault...you don't understand, I WOULD do great things and I WOULD move up in this business, but I have an obstacle, and until that obstacle moves out of the way... I just can't.  Sound like blame shifting to you?  I was crazy....that obstacle was not going to just move out of the way....I do believe in miracles and for years I did just sit back and wait...and see if God would move it for me.  Yes, He could do that...but my attitude was wrong.  I was lazy and I didn't have the faith that God could use me any other way than the blueprint I had already laid out for Him....I was a stubborn girl....You see, though I had valid reasons for my behavior it was my job to figure out a way around them. It was my job to figure out how to use the boulders in front of me as stepping stones to my destination.  I finally came to the realization that it is only through giving that we receive.  I don't mean we give in order to receive.  I mean we just give because it is what the Scripture tells us to do.  You know, the first shall be last and the last shall be first, whoever is least in My Kingdom will be the greatest of all....a SERVANTS heart...oh no...you heard me wrong...not a SLAVE...but a servant of all....when I look for ways to serve others...I am blessed beyond belief.  I am now a giver, not a taker and blessing flow abundantly. Now, I do see miracles...now I do say, "move" to some mountains and I watch in awe each time as they just get up and walk away.... This was one of those not so fun lessons to learn.  This is were the fence was not only weathered but broken.  I needed professionals to help me fix it.  I needed to get my thinking straight.  My friend, you know if you are a giver or a taker, you know if you are angry all the time, you know if you blame someone else for where you are in life... you know....everyone does...the next step is admitting it and changing the habits one by one to become the very person God designed for you to be.  You have to WANT to...Your white picket fence is within your reach....but right now you might need a professional to help you fix what's broken.  Mentors, counselors, the Holy Bible, a prayer partner, someone who has faced the same obstacle a time or two...help is available. Start looking for ways to give to others and you will be receiving abundant blessings in return!