Isaiah 25:1
“ O LORD, thou art my God; I will exalt thee, I will praise thy name; for thou hast done wonderful things; thy counsels of old are faithfulness and truth.”
One of the keys to relationships is the give and take principle. In the verse above, you see that Isaiah said, “I will.” Twice, Isaiah said he would do something. He said he would exalt the LORD, and he said he would praise the name of the LORD. This is the give side of this relationship.
As you read further into the chapter, you see the take side of the relationship. Isaiah gave, and then he received the giving side of God. Four times in this chapter God said He would do something. God said that He would destroy the enemy. He said that He would destroy death. He said that He would wipe away the tears from all faces, and He said that He would save us. It is very interesting that the LORD gave twice as much as He received.
The result of this is that Isaiah said in verse 9, “…we will be glad and rejoice in his salvation.” This is interesting that Isaiah didn’t stop in the relationship by taking, but he reciprocated by giving again. This give and take and give again is the key to fulfilled relationships. There are several principles we can learn about the give and take in relationships.
First, you should be willing to give without expecting to take. Isaiah didn’t give in the relationship expecting God to give back, but he gave without any expectation of receiving. If the only reason you are giving in a relationship is to take, then you will never be satisfied with what you receive. Your purpose of giving to the relationship is so that you can sincerely give the other person what they deserve. Take the selfishness out of your giving and you will find that you will never be dissatisfied with the other person in the relationship.
Second, you can’t give more than you will receive. God will always make sure that you receive more than you can give. Always remember that the giving side of a relationship is a seed that gives you more in return. If you truly go into any relationship with the mindset to give, you will eventually find that you will take in twice as much goodness as you can ever gave. If someone has done something for you, then you should respond by giving back to them. Don’t give back to equal the giving, but always strive to give back more than what you received.
Third, always make giving the response of taking. Notice that Isaiah gave, then he took and then he gave again. You are to give so that you can receive to give again. The purpose of receiving is not to stop and keep it for yourself, but to give more. When a relationship becomes more focused on what they can give to each other, then that is when you will find a fulfilled relationship.
No relationship will ever be fulfilled until you give and take, and give again. Don’t make your relationships about giving to get; instead, make your relationships about giving to get so that you can give again. Herein is the key to relationships that are happy and fulfilling. You will never enjoy any relationship until this principle is applied to them all.