It was gone. Frantically, I dug through my bag. An expensive gift that I had only received a few months earlier was missing from my possessions. My heart raced. My stomach felt sick. My mind traced my every movement since I last remembered having it.

One of my favorite scenes in Charles Dickens’s novel “Great Expectations” is when Joe takes care of Pip in his most broken moment, pays his debt, and nurses him back to health. Joe’s gift of love is something that Pip did not earn and could not repay. I’ve always admired and aspired to be like Joe. Yet, being on the receiving side like Pip is not something that is comfortable to me.

Can you think of a time when someone lavished such generous love upon you that repayment wasn’t an option? Have you ever been given a gift that seemed beyond what was earned or deserved? A gift like that requires humility to accept and can only be received with tremendous gratitude.

It was replaced. The expensive gift I had only received a few months earlier was given to me again. I was overwhelmed and felt undeserving of the first gift, so how could I possibly accept a second? My mind could not conceive the generosity being lavished upon me and wanted to protest. It was only my heart that could open to accepting the love represented in a gift I did not earn and could not repay.

The old adage “It is better to give than to receive” is true for me because receiving is hard. I would give away everything I own and sacrifice myself in service for those I love. Yet, to be on the receiving end feels so uncomfortable. And then I realized that each time I do something for another, he or she is giving me the gift of receiving it even when he or she may feel uncomfortable or humbled by the gift.

So for today, I will choose to receive lavishly the love being offered to me. It is in the receiving that I reciprocate with love and truly honor the giver.