Become a gracious receiver "Freely you have received, freely give." Mt 10:8 NKJV Jesus commanded us to give and receive. There must be a healthy balance between both. His command to give challenges our innate selfishness. His command to receive keeps us realistic about our personal limitations, our dependence on God-and others. For some of us, receiving is harder than giving. We have no trouble giving insight, giving hope, giving encouragement, giving advice, giving support, giving money, even giving ourselves. No, our greatest challenge is learning to become gracious receivers. By receiving, we acknowledge our need of others and that's hard on our ego. Yet it's in receiving that we show the giver they have something worth giving; we add value to their lives. It's in the eyes of the receiver that the giver discovers their worth. For example, when somebody gives us a watch but we never wear it, is that watch really received? When they offer us an idea an...