Although you are to give without thought of return, you are not to give too much of yourself away. You are not to make yourself a slave to others' needs and wants. This is a pitfall. Over-giving does not serve another well. And it may consume too much of your energy and leave you depleted and resentful. Perhaps you are expending too much. What you spend of yourself is not any other person's responsibility. It's your own. Don't blame them.

I did not tell you to starve yourself in order to feed the world.

I did not say to spend so much of your energy that you have none left.

I did not tell you to sweep everyone's floor and neglect your own.

You have thought of sacrifice as noble. It is not noble at all. Those who give great gifts to the world do not sacrifice. How prideful that would be! They are simply doing what they want to do. If they gave their whole life to caring for the sick and hungry, they were not sacrificing at all. They did not want to spend their life at parties. They didn't want to wear beautiful clothes. They did what they wanted to do. It would have been sacrifice for them to not do what was in their heart and their happiness to do.

Those you call saints were happy. They were not long-suffering. There is nothing saintly about suffering. They were doing what needed to be done and what gave them happiness. If they had not done what they took in their hands and heart to do, they would have suffered.

So, just like you, they chose joy. To those who are long-suffering in spirit, then suffering must be their joy. Someone may suffer for a long time, but that does not make them long-suffering. They do not turn their suffering into a virtue. They do not ask to be blessed for their suffering or given accolades.

Saints were not faint of heart. Or, if they were, they ignored the faintness and went ahead anyway.

Do not think of saints as martyrs. They made the choice they most wanted to make. If the world belittled their choice or disdained them for it, that was the world's choice. Think of those whose loving lives were forcibly taken, not as martyrs, but as heroes. It's blessed to be a hero. A hero has courage. Dubbing someone a martyr does not do honor. Do not set martyrdom before you as a worthy career.

Better to strum a guitar than work your fingers to the bone. Do not bend your back over for others so much that you cannot stand upright.

Give and give as you are able. But do not be self-sacrificing. If you desire to sacrifice, sacrifice selfishness, greed, envy, dismay etc. but not yourself. Let old ideas and claims go up in smoke, but do not burn yourself on an altar. You are brave enough already, beloveds.

Do unto others as you would have others do unto you. Would you really ask others to wear themselves out?

This is such a balance we are talking about. There are those in the world who are too selfish, and there are those who regard themselves too little. Regard yourself just right. Sleep at night. Rise in the morning. Do all the good you can do, and do it well with joy rather than servitude.

Serve Me well by honoring all My children. You are one of My children, so that includes you, too, beloved. That includes you too.