Let me begin with a story of a Christmas that a certain young man would never forget. It was the first time that he had been given money by his parents so he could go and buy them a Christmas gift. For several years he was always getting something from his parents, but never giving anything to his parents. He finally realized one day, “Something is wrong with this picture.”

Being too young to work and not being smart enough to ask for an allowance he went to his mom and dad and offered to do some extra work around the house in exchange for money so he could buy them some Christmas gifts. In essence, he didn’t wind up doing anything more than he was normally asked to do and he got the money anyway.

His motives started out right, but then he got in the way and this is what happened. He wen…