Everyone has Motives … And they can be difficult to understand “I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do.” Rom. 7:15

Last Week…

Givers … … sincerely want to give of themselves for others because of what Christ has done for them … see a bigger picture … they actually give

Takers… … want to gain as much as possible for themselves. They do not understand what Christ has done for them … see themselves first, blind to others … constantly take and want

Last Week, in our relationship with God This Week, in our relationship with others

Scriptures Take on “Takers”… What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you? You want something but don’t get it. You kill and covet, but you cannot have what you want. You quarrel and fight. You do not have, because you do not ask God. When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures… Ja. 4:1-3

Scriptures remedy for “Takers”… Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.Ja. 4:7-10

Biblical Example of … … Amon takes full advantage of situation to gain what he wants … Amon fakes illness to get what he wants … Amon is encouraged and takes advantage of selfish desires 2 Sam. 13 …Horrible, hateful, and deadly consequences

Comparison… Ananias and Sapphira Amon Lie- Amount Lie- Illness Selfish Desire- Image Selfish Desire- Sex Lack of Respect- GodLack of Respect- Tamar Plans were both Premeditated Difference: Those who Dealt with the Consequences

Givers are a different breed… Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you. Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. Eph. 4:32-5:1 Scripture uses the word Love to Describe Givers

Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything. Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless.

In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. After all, no one ever hated his own body, but he feeds and cares for it, just as Christ does the church—for we are members of his body. “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.” This is a profound mystery—but I am talking about Christ and the church. However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.Eph. 5:22-33

Givers … … sincerely want to give of themselves for others because of what Christ has done for them … see a bigger picture … they actually give

… understanding of what Christ has done for them … bigger picture, both/and … they actually give sacrificially and unconditionally … in the context of a personal relationship With the Gift of Love and the Power of the Holy Spirit

… are patient Genesis 2:18-25 “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.” Eph. 5:31 Did Adam look for Eve ???

In Your relationships with others which are you ??? Humility,Surrender, Repentance Are you willing to Sacrifice ???

"Here's what I want you to do: Find a quiet, secluded place so you won't be tempted to role-play before God. Just be there as simply and honestly as you can manage. The focus will shift from you to God, and you will begin to sense his grace. This is your Father you are dealing with, and he knows better than you what you need. Mt. 6:6,13 (MSG)