The Gift of Receiving

I am discovering an area of weakness in my life.

Receiving.

My initial reaction to this idea is to answer with a common phrase i hear, especially around Christmas time "It's better to give than to receive"...
Now I agree, on some levels, but what I have noticed is that I can be a real good giver whether it be gifts, compliments or hugs but receiving them on the other hand is a whole different story. And I don't think I'm the only one.

As a culture we are raised to believe that it is indeed better to give than receive, and so we spend all of our time learning to be better givers. But what happens when it comes time to receive? your met with something like this:

"That's a great shirt"
"oh thanks..it's the only clean one I had"

or

"You look great, have you lost weight?"
"Ya a little, but not as much as I need to!"

or if your like me maybe you have been in this scenario...

"What a great message tonight Jerrod."
"oh it wasn't me, it was all the Lord"

Wait wait wait that last one is true, right? Is it? (before you pick up the stones hear me out) Yes, the Lord is the producer of all good things, and is the inspiration for the production of those things, but there had to have been a joined effort on my part (or your part) for Him to accomplish those things. So is it humility when you brush off the compliments or is it just inverted vanity? A false sense of humility. Because we really do believe that things the people say, but we surely can't say we agree with them because that would be prideful! (this is inverted vanity) we care more about the appearance of humility then actually being humble.

We invest so much time being givers that our ability to receive suffers. This is where my concern comes in...If we don't learn to receive then how can we really experience what God has given. We wont. What He offers is not based on what we give or do or produce or make up. It is rooted in HIM giving and US receiving what HE gives.

I need to get better at receiving...so if you would like to help we could start by you giving me something?