Why do I feel like every act of kindness has hidden strings attached?

You're already calculating the cost before anyone's finished speaking. Someone shows up for you and your mind goes straight to the debt column. What will they want later. What favour is being banked. Love, in your experience, has always come with an invoice attached. So you keep the ledger balanced. You give before they ask. You anticipate needs. You stay useful. Safe. But here's what you're not seeing: you've turned every relationship into a transaction because somewhere along the way, that's what love looked like to you. Conditional. Measured. You learned that affection came with strings, so now you tie your own strings first. It feels like protection. It's actually exhaustion. Listen to what Paul knew: "Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins." One direction. No invoice. No hidden agenda. He didn't love you because you were useful first. He loved you before you could do anything in return. What if the person reaching toward you right now isn't setting a trap? Blessings - Fountain of Grace International