Growing up, I never had a problem receiving gifts. A new toy from a parent, a cute accessory from a friend, flowers from my husband. Without hesitation, I always accepted these gifts with joy. 

Once I moved overseas, however, some sort of switch flipped inside of me. People, both in Haiti and back home in America, began to label me as a “global worker.” And with that title, came a whole swarm of false and harmful assumptions I made for myself as to what that name required of me. Some of which included never saying “no” to someone in need, never taking any time off because churches in the States weren’t sponsoring me to rest, and especially never accepting gifts because my job was now to give, not receive. 

For some reason, I had misread the words of Jesus when he said, “It is more blessed to give than to receive” in Acts 20:35. I equated giving with a strong faith and receiving gifts with a weak one. Guilt consumed me whenever someone offered to give me financial support or even send me a goodie box from home. I don’t need help, I would think. I’m the one supposed to be giving help. Not the other way around. 

Then one day I received an email from a donor about their most recent donation to our organization. After thanking him, he quickly responded back by saying, “No need to thank me. Thank God instead. I am only passing on the gift He first gave to me.” His message was simple, but his words stuck with me all day. The donor’s gift to us was not actually from him. His gift was from God. 

This made me wonder: by denying gifts from others, was I, in return, denying gifts from God? I didn’t have to think long, I knew the answer was YES!  

God loves to give us good gifts. And often, He gives us His good gifts through the hands and hearts of others. While we are called to be cheerful givers (2 Corinthians 9:7), we also need to be good receivers, because every perfect gift comes from our Father above (James 1:17).