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“You shall not steal.” --Exodus 20:15 Today I simply want to ask the question, are you a giver or a taker? And I want you to think about that question in terms of your relationship with people and your relationship with God. First, your relationship with people. When it comes to others, are you a giver or a taker? Think about the words you say. Does what you say build people up… or tear them down? Ephesians 4:29 says, “Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.” Is your life marked by this verse? Then think about your actions. Does what you do help people… or hurt people? Proverbs 3:27 says, “Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in your power to do it.” Are you letting this verse play itself out in your life? Now I want you to think about your relationship with God. When it comes to him, are you a giver or a taker? Think about the life that he’s given you through Christ. Are you showing thankfulness to him by living a life serving him, loving him, and worshipping him? First Corinthians 6:20 says, “You were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.” As followers of Christ, you and I have been bought and paid for by the blood of the Lord Jesus and who we are and what we have belongs to Him. We are purchased as His own possession!   That means when we withhold our lives and gifts from Him… when we sit on the sidelines and do not participate in the work of the ministry of Christ on earth… we are taking from God what’s really his. We’re robbing him! And the same is true when we don’t bring him our tithes and offerings. So today my encouragement is this. No one, not you or me or anyone else, is a giver 100% of the time. We’re all selfish to some degree. But don’t let that keep you from striving to give yourself completely—to others and most of all… to God. WHEN IT COMES TO YOUR RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD, ARE YOU A GIVER OR A TAKER? Identification Thursday, July 25, 2019 by Dr. Paul Chappell “For if I build again the things which I destroyed, I make myself a transgressor. For I through the law am dead to the law, that I might live unto God. I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain.” Galatians 2:18–21 People answer the question, “Who are you?” in many different ways. Some give a historical account of their family tree. Others cite their job, career, or hobby as an identifying mark. Some may share a philosophy or allegiance that helps define them. As children of God, all of us are called to identify with Jesus Christ, not just in a general sense, but in a specific way. We are to identify with His crucifixion. Without that identification, we cannot accomplish God’s purpose for our lives. Someone said, “There is a great difference between realizing, ‘On that cross He was crucified for me,’ and ‘On that cross I am crucified with Him.’ The one aspect brings us deliverance from sin’s condemnation, the other from sin’s power.” The cross does not just represent the means of our salvation, but also our means of victorious new life in Christ. The Lord does not save us to leave us as we are, but to change us completely. This process begins with our death to self. “And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me” (Mark 8:34). The road Jesus left for us to follow can only be walked by those carrying crosses. Today's Growth Principle:  Unless we are crucified daily, we will not be able to live the victorious Christian life.