You Will Be Taken Advantage Of
You Will Be Taken Advantage Of
The hardest part of being a servant is feeling like you’ve been taken advantage of or that you wasted your time because your investment was not appreciated or reinvested. The reality is, you will be taken advantage of. There are people who will take all you are willing to give and never entertain a thought of thanking you or reciprocating.
Conditional Investment vs Expectation of Return
If you are attaching conditions to your investment in someone, you’re likely investing in them for the wrong reasons.
There is a fine line between Conditions and Expectations. Conditions are directly tied to an action, I will do X if you do Y much the same as a contract. Expectations have a bit of different focus. I will do X in hopes it encourages you to do Y.
With Expectations I am going to do X regardless, and then hope to see the outcome of Y. The transaction, if you will, is finished when I do X as there is no obligation for you to do Y. With Conditions, the transaction is not complete until Y is completed. Further, if Y is not completed there is still an ‘unpaid’ obligation.
In both cases, not doing Y will likely prevent X from ever being done again but for different reasons. With Expectations, you should never feel taken advantage of, only that your investment wasn’t impactful which is a burden completely on the other person. Think of it as a gift. You gift someone a tool you know will make life much easier for them. Once you give the gift, there is nothing you can do to make them use the gift nor is there any obligation for them to use the gift. It’s a gift which means there’s no conditions attached to it. They are free to choose whether or not to use the gift.
Which One Belongs to a Servant
The same is true with a Servant attitude. You invest in someone else in hopes (with the expectation) they will recognize their self-worth, not because you want something (a condition) in return. I can promise you with complete confidence, if you invest time in others with the condition they use your investment in the way you want, you will feel taken advantage of more times than not. However, if you invest in them and release them of any obligation to use your gift there is a greater chance your investment will yield a positive return in their that person's life.
Biblical Perspective
From a Biblical perspective, Christ Jesus invested everything he had in humanity, his very own life. For that investment, he was spit on, flogged, and killed. Even in the midst of all of that, one of the last things he said was, “forgive them.” He expected them to receive the gift he was offering, his payment for their sins, but it was not a condition of his action. He did not say, I will die for you but only if you accept this gift, he simply offered the gift and placed the burden of accepting his free and unconditional gift completely on us.
Follow his example and give of yourself freely and unconditionally simply because your gift may be the only lifeline extended to that person.
