Giving From Gratitude Not Guilt

Everything felt right for the first time in a long time. I was 30,000 feet over Florida heading to a conference. The flight was smooth, I had been up since 2:45 that morning, and the cabin was quiet. Peaceful.

Our second adoption from China was still a stressful roller coaster. My work still had issues that needed solving. My family was far behind me and my heart ached for them. But, I felt that God had these things under control.

Gratitude filled me as soon as I noticed the feeling of peace. It was a gift.

A strong desire to respond welled up in me. My mind started racing. I wanted to do something. Maybe I should write an article about the experience. Or I could contemplate how God was acting and what he wanted me to take away from the experience. Perhaps I could figure out how to make this feeling happen again when I felt stressed.

Then I received another gift. A small voice asked me to let all of that go and just be grateful.

My reaction was normal enough. When someone does something nice, we naturally want to repay them. But, that needs to be done carefully.

Have you ever given a gift that the recipient couldn’t reciprocate? What did you want them to do?

Did you want them to feel embarrassed? Did you want them to scrounge around for something to give back, even if you didn’t want what they had to offer?

Or, did you want them to give a sincere “thank you” and enjoy the blessing they received?

We should respond to God with service and charity, but only after responding with gratitude and praise. God doesn’t want us to pay him back. He doesn’t want our good deeds as an awkward attempt to make things even.

God wants gifts given from gratitude, not guilt.

Our service and charity—hopefully, including this article—are paying it forward rather than paying it back.

When we notice how good God is, let’s not be awkward about it. Let’s be like children who are not ashamed to be grateful and who revel in the joy of being loved by a generous parent.

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