Emotional Overdraft

Emotional Overdraft

Steven Covey, author of the Book “Seven Habits of Highly Effective People”, used the analogy of a bank account to explain why some people feel emotionally depleted and react in very negative ways. Bank accounts have a certain amount of money. When you put money in that is called a deposit. When you take money out that is called a withdrawal. You withdraw too much money and you end up with very little money or none at all. In fact, sometimes you withdraw so much you take more than what you have. When this happens you have over drafted your bank account. Banks typically charge fees when this happen, so you end up owing more than what you took.

Covey says our emotions work similarly. Covey says that when you do something good to someone it is akin to a deposit, but when you do something wrong is akin to a withdrawal. If you do enough wrong things you can end with an emotional over-draft.

Rejecting a gift can be considered the wrong thing to do. This is a withdrawal to the giver’s emotional bank account. Depending on the gift and what it means to the giver, you could end up with an emotional overdraft. As banks, you may end up with higher “fees”, so you have to deposit a lot of the right things, to cover what you did wrong and the fees attached to it.

When we reject God’s gift, we not only make a withdrawal, we also create an overdraft situation that can never be repaid. What is God’s gift to us? In Ephesians 2:8 it refers to our salvation,

Ephesians 2: 8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:

In Romans 6:23 it refers to the eternal life we receive in and through Christ,

Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

In Romans 5:15 – 18 it refers to Christ and all that we are given in and through Him: grace, justification, righteousness, and eternal life,

Romans 5:15But not as the offence, so also is the free gift. For if through the offence of one many be dead, much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many.
Romans 5:16And not as it was by one that sinned, so is the gift: for the judgment was by one to condemnation, but the free gift is of many offences unto justification.
Romans 5: 17For if by one man's offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.)
Romans 5:18Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life.

In John 4:10 Jesus tells the woman at the Well in Samaria that it is Living water,

John 4: 10 Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water.

What is living water? The answer to that is in John 7: 38 -39

John 7: 38He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.
John 7: 39 (But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.)

The apostle Peter is very direct in calling the Holy Spirit a gift,

Acts 10:45 And they of the circumcision which believed were astonished, as many as came with
Peter, because that on the Gentiles also was poured out the gift of the Holy Ghost.

Reject any of these and you reject them all. It is a packaged deal. You cannot choose one of them. Rejecting them grieves God. He gave them to you because He loves you. Rejecting the gift of God is so great an emotional withdrawal to Him it creates an overdraft situation in His emotional bank account. You are precious to Him and so is His gift to you. Will you appreciate His gift? Will you accept it? Will you take it?