Give and Take

Years ago we were looking to buy our house.  We had been searching for a long time without much luck and it had been getting pretty discouraged.  One day the realtor called and told of us of a house that had just come on the market.  We went out to drive by and we were pretty excited.  We went back to the real estate office telling ourselves the whole time that we needed to play this cool.  I guess we weren't very convincing.  We walked in to the office and asked about the house and the realtor asked, "Did you want to look at the house first or are you ready to make an offer now?"

 

So we did end up getting the house and the negotiations were pretty straight forward.  Negotiations are usually a question of give and take.  In a negotiation nobody gets everything that they want.  Everyone has to give up something and hopefully everybody gets something to feel good about in the process.  Kids can be funny to negotiate with.  They want it all and aren't prepared to give up anything on their end.  

   Adult:  If you do extra chores, you can stay up past your bedtime.

   Kid:  How about I stay up late and eat chocolate cake.

For a kid, win-win doesn't mean that we both win.  It means that they win twice.

We can't really negotiate with God over are future.  God is God and we aren't,  God sets the terms and we take them or leave them.  Fortunately, what he wants us to give up is more than fair.

He wants us to give up hate and anger and self-pity.  He wants us to give up greed and covetousness.   He wants us to give up our petty demands and our self absorbency.   In return we get the fruit of the Spirit.  Love, Joy, Peace, Forbearance, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness and Self-Control.  And that is a deal that even a child could love.

Watch this clip from Pastor Chris.

God wants to bless us abundantly through the Holy Spirit.  All He asks is that we give up the things of this world that are holding us back.  Not a bad deal.