Are you a giver or a taker?
Do you go to church for what you can give or what you can get?
Are you in a marriage where you bring something to offer every day or do you just want it your way?
In friendship, what is your motive, what you can impart or what you can extract?

I was reading Romans 1 this morning and Paul says to the saints in Rome, “I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift, so that you may be established —- that is, that I may be encouraged together with you by the mutual faith both of you and me.”

Reciprocal relationships are the best relationships. Where both parties are coming to add value to the other person. When a relationship is one sided it gets out of balance and people get frustrated, irritated, hurt, because one giving but the other is only taking.

This works in everyday relationships and it works in our relationship with God. We know He is God and needs nothing, but what if our relationship with Him is either distant or close because of what we invest in Him? He has invested His Son into our lives, He has given us His Holy Spirit as a deposit/guarantee of a future with Him forever. We can’t out give Him.

Relationships are not a competition of who can give more, rather they are a response to the one we say we love. If we say we love God how are we responding to God in worship, in giving, in time spent with Him?

Paul was a giver. He sought to impart a gift to the people of Rome. Next time you go to church or go to coffee with a friend or come home to your spouse, what gift can you impart to them? It is truly more blessed to give than receive, so be a giver and watch how much you receive in return. Our God is reciprocal. Www.apostolicresourcecenter.org