Taker to Giver

Remember the old days when life was all about feeding our addiction(s)?  How many of us would lie to loved ones; manipulate; invent ‘crisis’ to get money to feed our habit; steal.  And the absurd reality was that the more we lied, manipulated, cheated, stole, the more and more we became convinced we were the ‘center of the universe’ and nothing mattered more than what our minds craved.  Lying, cheating, stealing, manipulating, controlling, yelling became our normal behavior.  And while we fed our addiction, our family and friends considered us “takers” because we were running rough shod over them to satisfy our own needs. 

Evidently, there were some “Christian addicts/takers” in the church at Ephesus because Paul writes in Ephesians 4.28, “If you are a thief, quit stealing. Instead, use your hands for good hard work, and then give generously to others in need.” 

As our brain heals from the damage we have caused through our addiction – whether that is from drugs, alcohol, food or pornography—we will have lingering learned behavioral patterns that need to be corrected.   In the process of long term recovery, we need to learn how to move from being a “taker” to a “giver.”  How to “quit stealing,” be self-sufficient, and how to “give generously to others in need.”   

We are instructed by Scripture to:

Quit stealing.  In the Encarta Dictionary to steal means to get or take something secretly or through trickery; to take something from someone illegally or without the owner’s permission. 

Material things are not the only things that can be stolen.  Some of us may have stolen something and visited the pawn shop to get some cash.  But all of us have stolen things more precious than any material item you can imagine.  Broken promises; using others; lying; all are forms of “taking something from someone.”  We steal trust; respect; the other person’s sense of self-worth – things that you cannot place a monetary value on.  

Become self-sufficient.  “Use our hands for good hard work.”  A troublesome lingering behavior pattern among those in the early stages of recovery is a strong sense of entitlement.  There are a plethora of reasons for this but I notice it especially among younger people.  Not judging just saying.

The visual about the “towel” was posted on Facebook by Cara Waddell.  I thought it summarized this part of the lesson quite well.  So, thanks, Cara. 

Give generously to others in need.  Material things are not the only things that can be given to others.

A great illustration of an individual being transformed from a “taker” to a “giver” is found in Luke19.1-10.    

What is the process of being transformed from a “taker” to a “giver”? 

v.1&2 - Zacchaeus was a man of some prominence. His name in Hebrew means, “righteous,” but he was not thought of as being anywhere close to righteous because he was a tax collector.  If you became a Roman tax collector as a Jew it meant three things. One, your family would disown you. Two, you would never be allowed to worship in the synagogue, and three, you’d be looked at as bad as a murderer.

To become a tax collector you had to bribe an official. Then, Roman officials would tell you how much you needed to collect, and if you were able to collect more through whatever means you deemed acceptable, you could keep the extra.  So his only real achievement he ever had was overcharging people and cheating them for his own financial gain. He was wealthy; he was a “taker.” 

v.3&4 - Zacchaeus shocked the crowds.  How?  He ran through the crowds and climbed a tree.  Not what a person of wealth would do in that culture at that time! 

What was more shocking to the crowds is what Jesus did!

v.5-6 – Jesus reached out to this “taker” by “calling him by name.”   To the Hebrews a name was not a label, or a tool to distinguish one person from another.   A person's name was viewed as equivalent to the person himself. A person's name signified their person, worth, character, reputation.  Jesus was able to see beyond the behavior and saw in him the potential to live up to his name – “righteous.” 

v, 7 – The truth is we are a lot like Zacchaeus in the eyes of those we have taken from – a notorious sinner. We have all done things that have hurt others. We’ve lived a life of taking with little or no thought of being a “giver.”   But Jesus is far more interested in changing us than He is in condemning us. So He looks at you and He says, “I know you, I love you.   And, in spite of all that you’ve done, I want you to have a relationship with Me.”

v. 8&9 - Something had happened in his heart because the most selfish man in the city all of a sudden became the most generous man in the city.  Jewish law called for restitution to be the original amount plus 20%.  Zach was giving back FOUR times the amount! 

What happened? Jesus Christ and the love of God changed him - that’s what happened.  Jesus had changed his heart.  What Zacchaeus gave others flowed out of a heart of gratitude for what Christ had done for him.  He didn’t do it for recognition, self-gratification, to draw attention to himself, or for the “t-shirt.”  What he did was from his changed heart! 

When you have a relationship with Jesus, your attitudes change. You become a more generous person. All of a sudden you start thinking about other people. You realize how much you’ve been given and you want to give back.  Your mindset changes from one of “what can I take to meet my own needs?”  to one of “what can I give to those in need?”

I believe Zacchaeus was miserable little man on the inside.  You can’t have a guilty conscious and feel good about yourself at the same time. He knew that he was ripping people off, and that would have caused him to lose most of his self-respect over a period of time. What we have here is a guy who was a “taker,” who had had a lot of money but had been separated from everything important in life. But one day, a brief encounter with Jesus, changed his life.

What does it take to move from being a “taker” to a “giver”?  An encounter with Jesus! 

William Booth, the founder of the Salvation Army, understood the importance of asking God to change him. This prayer was in his journal: “Lord, I give you everything there is in this man, William Booth. Do with me what you will.” God loves to hear prayers like this because they represent a surrendered life and a willingness to change.

Have you surrendered “all to Jesus”?