There is always someone who is willing to “help out” and when their assistance is completed they won’t take any money and they say “I don’t need it”, “Don’t want it”, etc. And usually what we will do is take them up on it and not pay. While on the surface it seems that all is well, what is underneath may not be so calm, cool and collected. When someone says, “No, really, I don’t want anything for it.”, they may be telling the truth, but sometimes, and I would say more often than we know, what that person really needs is someone to value their contribution and value their work and that shows up in our society as pay. People who would like to be paid but don’t say it are not alone. It is very hard for any of us to represent what we feel our worth is so we don’t do it. This is why celebrities, sports athletes, etc. have agents. We take it for granted but even the best of the best would have a hard time sitting down across from someone else and actually putting a dollar figure on what they think they are worth. So, they have someone else do it for them. Most of us don’t have that person working for us so we offer our services for free or for a reduced value and we write it off as a “gift” to someone else. There is nothing wrong with that at all, but if we are on the side of receiving that “gift” we should think about it before we just accept that they really mean that they don’t want anything for the work or the service. If we don’t think about it, and don’t get it right, then we run the risk of taking advantage of other people and that would run counter to who we are supposed to be. In Romans 4:4 Paul says; “When people work, their wages are not a gift. Workers earn what they receive.” Today, think about how to reward those who do something extra and something special for you. In this troubled economic day and age we live in, writing them a check as part of the thank you could be the best recognition and valuing you can give them.

Reference: Romans 4:4 (New Living Testament)