Have you ever considered that you have a gift to give and it really is your choice as to whom, or even if, you give it to? To be honest.... it really is the only gift of worth that you have to offer. And, the recipient always has the right to refuse your offer. There is also another caveat in this.... once you've given the gift and it's been accepted you relinquish all control over it.
Dilemma?
One of the first questions you have to answer is - to whom do you offer the gift? To your family? To your friends? To your 'work'? To God? Who will safeguard your gift, actually cherish it? Because your gift is - you, warts and all. Whoever and whatever you are at that moment in time is your gift. And this is a very priceless gift.
I suspect that you can also give 'portions' of your gift - not the whole. Not really certain how this is accomplished, but you can attempt to retain some level of control -but then you really haven't given the gift. But what's the point? IF you are to give a gift, you need to relinquish your control, your rights over it, otherwise it really isn't a gift.
In giving your gift, since you do relinquish control, I understand that this places you in a very vulnerable position. Reality is that gift can be misplaced, misused or misinterpreted. Actually the only truly safe harbor for your gift is the Lord. He doesn't misplace or misuse you, actually He enhances you.
I've always found that when I've given me to something, someone that I have to allow them the 'right' to hurt me. That's very uncomfortable basically because typically I do end up hurt in some way. But when I finally gave myself completely (or at least as completely as I know how) to the Lord, my vulnerability is protected. More important, to me, is that I've grown and that is valuable.
The last question is.... if you don't give your gift, what are you doing with it?
1 comment:
Excellent observation. I think that you're 100% right on the money revealing that time is indeed a gift we either keep or give away.
At work we have a piece of paper posted in our conference room that says "What I do today is important, because I am giving a day of my life for it." I think whoever put it there seems to understand that time is a valuable commodity. That sure puts an interesting spin on time management.
Think of your "destiny" as being comprised of years, which are made up of months, days, hours minutes and seconds. Translated, every second that you live can be (and sometimes is) very important and impacting.
I've often most regretted withholding my time gift when people that I know and love either move away or pass from this life. it sometimes hurts to believe that perhaps I gave too little. I think that as we age, we really understand the value and the impact of giving time to others. If Jesus really wants us to be humble and selfless (among many things, of course), then by golly it seems that it may be a safe bet that we can include the selfless act of giving time as a winner. This is, however, a great stumbling block for many who are really "busy". (The funny thing is, "busy" is the result of our choice to be busy.)
While I'd love to expound for a long time on this, I'll kind of wrap things up by saying this...your life, as you know it now, can be considered as a kind of a dress rehearsal for the heavenly age to come. (I realize that this can be argumentative to some, but please just roll with me on this. :)). If you think about why you're here right now, you must have a purpose and a reason. Most likely, you have many, many purposes & reasons why God has you. People (you &. I included) want to be loved. We want to know that we are not alone and that we have some kind of value.
Could giving your gift of time possibly change someone else's life for the better? Does this perhaps put a fresh perspective with the idea that giving your gift means that you're giving up your control? You certainly will not know unless you try. So, what are you waiting for? Giving your gift is a verb (action) more than it probably is a noun.
Cheers and blessings to all!
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