“God’s peace and joy are yours.  Today we will accept them, knowing they belong to us.  And we will try to understand these gifts increase as we receive them.  They are not like the gifts the world can give, in which the giver loses as he gives the gift; the taker is the richer by his loss.  Such are not gifts, but bargains made with guilt.  The truly given gift entails no loss.  It is impossible that one can gain because another loses.  This implies a limit and an insufficiency.  This strange distortion of what giving means pervades all levels of the world you see.” – Helen Schucman  “A Course in Miracles”

You would think accepting a gift is a relatively simple thing to do.  But when you give some thought to it, you begin to realize just how tainted your attitudes about receiving something really are, and more importantly, how your skewed beliefs surrounding the matter were shaped and molded through the years.

For me, receiving has always come with a sense of guilt – feeling as though I didn’t really deserve the gift I was being given.   Maybe it was all those Christmas seasons I experienced as a child – singing “He’s making a list…checking it twice…. going to find out who’s naughty and nice.”  –  knowing down deep I was more naughty than nice the past year 🙂 I can remember a few times I really wondered if I would find a lump of coal in my stocking – that classic threat parents give their children – nurturing the idea that gifts are really not gifts, but rewards given for good behavior. 

Think about the quality of birthday gifts promised if your grades in school were sufficient, or the special trip to the ice cream shoppe if your chores were completed on time and correctly, and you begin to see how inadvertently and subconsciously our minds connected receiving with something earned or deserved.

Receiving can also come with feelings of indebtedness – believing we now owe the giver something in return for their gift.  I think each of us would be lying if we didn’t admit receiving a really nice gift from someone, and the value of that gift influenced the size and type of gift we gave them in return for their birthday or special event they experienced in the future.  If we receive something from someone, it only seems right that we give them something in return of equal or higher value…. Right?  Along with indebtedness come feelings of fear – knowing we are now bound to the giver and fearful we will never be able to repay them for their generosity or kindness.

I don’t think it’s a coincidence that feelings of guilt, fear and indebtedness surround the concept of receiving.  Our own human condition and the evil present in this world want these emotions to reign and thrive when we think about receiving, because spiritually, our ability to receive is vital to our relationship with God.  How we view Him, how we view ourselves, and the peace we experience in this life are all connected to learning the correct way to receive.

When I think about God’s gifts to us (salvation, grace, love, forgiveness, peace, and righteousness) it is hard to fathom the truth:  They are simply there for the taking if we receive them in faith.  Instead of accepting this simple truth, we fall back to our tainted views of receiving – falsely believing there is a catch, a prison of indebtedness, or something we owe in return of equal or greater value. 

This is why so many people avoid a relationship with God, and sadly enough, organized religion has a way of encouraging this incorrect and skewed theology.  How often we attend church, how much we give in offerings, how many church committees we serve on, all are either directly or indirectly tied to what we are perceived to owe God for all He gives us.  We are led to believe our righteousness comes from how righteous we behave, that we are only forgiven if we first forgive – loved by God if we love and serve Him first. 

I can remember as a child having to account to my parochial schoolteachers whether or not I attended church services the past weekend…being made to feel guilty and undeserving if I hadn’t.  I remember church officials coming to our house, inquiring about my parent’s stewardship and level of giving to the church’s financial stability – feeding feelings of indebtedness about what we owe God for all He has done for us.  When you think about it, the church benefits and thrives (especially financially) by encouraging these feelings of guilt, fear, and indebtedness.  In the process, they misrepresent who God really is and the beautiful gifts He gives us without condition.  Sadly, their control over people and how they behave and act is of more importance to them – sustaining their own viability in the process.

People outside of the church see all the guilt, fear and indebtedness.  They run away from God because they don’t feel worthy or capable of earning and then receiving His love and grace.   They see the contradictions and become confused.   They falsely believe they can only receive good things from God if they earn them first.  The feelings of guilt and indebtedness, of knowing they can’t become all the church tells them they must become, cause them to run away from God instead of running toward Him and receiving all He has to offer them.

As Helen Schucman declares….“The truly given gift entails no loss.”  God’s gifts to us are never limited or insufficient!  He has an unending supply of grace, love, forgiveness, and peace available to us!  As the receiver, we suffer no guilt, fear or indebtedness to God by accepting all He has to offer 🙂

“God did not send His Son into the world to condemn it, but to save it.” –  John 3:17 (NLT)

“God saved you by His special favor when you believed.  And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God.  Salvation is not a reward for the good things you have done, so none of us can boast about it.” – Ephesians 2:8-9 (NLT)

“For all have sinned; all of us fall short of God’s glorious standard.  Yet now God in His gracious kindness declares us not guilty.  He has done this through Christ Jesus, who has freed us by taking away our sins.” – Romans 3:23-24 (NLT)

“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you.  I do not give to you as the world gives.  Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.”– John 14:27 (NIV)

“This righteousness comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe.  There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that came in Christ Jesus.” – Romans 3:22-24 (NIV)

Each of us must learn how to simply receive these wonderful gifts!  We don’t earn our salvation – it has already been earned for us!  We can never be righteous in our own actions and behavior, but God sees us as righteous already through Christ!  God’s peace is always present, just waiting for us to receive it. His forgiveness has no limits. We must simply believe it and receive it 🙂 No guilt, fear or indebtedness is required!

I love how Helen Schucman writes…“These gifts increase as we receive them.”  When we are forgiven, we find it easier to forgive others.  When we receive God’s peace, we carry it with us – impacting others.  We love because He first loved us! 

The earthly church has it wrong. It says, “Act and behave a certain way…. and then you will receive.” 

God says, “Open your heart to receive.  When you realize the power of these gifts I’ve freely given you, your actions and behaviors will change – effecting not only you, but the lives of those you touch in ways you never imagined!”

 Father,

Help us to learn how to receive all the gifts you freely give us.  Teach us to open our hearts and minds, erasing any fear, guilt and indebtedness we feel in our relationship with you.  Help us to see that by simply receiving, we change!  Thank you for your love, peace, grace, forgiveness and righteousness that are limitless and unending – requiring nothing more from us than believing we freely and readily receive it from you.

God bless!