Givers and Getters

Plato wrote,

"There are three classes of men; lovers of wisdom, lovers of honor and lovers of gain."

I think he is right, to a certain extent. In today's culture, the ideas of wisdom and honor have become ambiguous. What is wise to some is not wise to others, and what is honorable in the west is not necessarily honorable elsewhere. But, there are still, and I suspect there will always be, lovers of gain.

If I where to rephrase Plato's quote for current culture, I might state it as follows:

There are two kinds of people... those who are always looking to get something (getters) and those who are always looking to give (givers) something.I suppose I could make the case that getters are those who are lovers of gain, and givers are those who are lovers of honor and wisdom.

I think, to a certain extent, we are all getters and givers. The Christian life, in my opinion, is a continuous struggle to be a giver when our DNA is that of a getter. Those of us who know Jesus Christ as Savior have already begun turning the tide in that struggle. The Holy Spirit has come upon us and started to move the battle forward in our fight against that getter mentality. One day Christ will return, and we will be new creatures with new DNA, but until that day, the battle rages daily. May we be found faithful and fighting.