Funny how strange it is that people who are always giving of themselves do not get reciprocated! One would think it should be otherwise, but the irony is they don’t always get compensated for their efforts. Like a donkey, set to work the field for its master, it works day in and day out until it is too old and too weak to work anymore. Then that day comes when it just can’t work anymore and it is put away, only to be replaced by another donkey.
Those people who selflessly invest their time and resources to help others, need to be mindful of the selfish inclination of some recipients. When you bend your back too much, you end up breaking it. When you give too much, you deplete your resources and end up burning yourself out.
Someone I knew used to say, ‘too kind is no good’. There is a whole lot of truth in that statement. Selfish is as selfish does; a mean person will always be mean with how they live their lives. Look at real life situations; a harsh ruler works his subjects to the bone yet he is not satisfied. An over generous father goes out of his way to provide for his children yet they sit back and do nothing. Whose fault is it?
Proverbs 22:6 (KJV) says, “Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.” Sometimes that child becomes a prodigal; he knows what the values of the family are and he knows the intentions of the parent yet he chooses to go the other direction. So, whose fault is it anyway? Proverbs 10:1b (NIV) says, A foolish son brings grief to his mother.
Each person is given the freedom to choose and what we choose determines the path we will walk in. There are many sad stories of child actors who were shown the path of prosperity but they abused their freedom to walk in it circumspectly. They ended up ruining their career and hurting the ones closest to them. How tragic! Luckily for the prodigal in the Bible, he came to his senses, went back to his father and was reinstated in the family.
When we give too much love, we can smother the recipients. When we try to go out of our way to please people, often at our own expenses, our behaviour is seen as repulsive to them. Love is give and take – it is reciprocal. If this is not the case, it is foolishness for the one and selfishness for the other. How many fools have you met? How many selfish people have you crossed paths with? Remember, there are always two sides to a coin. Love without boundaries is perilous, like a plane trying to land on an unlit runway on a dark night.◊
Linda Pearl
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