Gift of Love

It’s my favorite time of year, Christmas season! I love everything about it…the lights, the music, the movies, the traditions, time with family and friends, the food, the concerts and programs, time off from work, and let’s not forget, the gifts.

As a child, I loved getting gifts. As an adult, I enjoy gifts too; however, I get more joy and excitement these days from giving gifts to others.

Nonetheless, there are times that I start to feel pressure to get the right gift for a certain person or to make sure that my kids have the same number of gifts to open or to try to spend as much or more money on my spouse’s gift than he does on mine. It’s a lot of ridiculousness. Do you get wrapped up in these worldly things as well?

If you’re like me, sometimes the meaning of the gift itself can get lost as we check off our fictional gift criteria. If we focused more on why we’re giving the gift in the first place instead of worrying about what the recipient will think of the gift, then I’m sure we would be a lot less stressed during this time of year and find more joy in the giving.

“In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive,’” (Acts 20:35).

This season, my older son decided that he would make his own gifts to give out to our family. My husband and I even offered to pitch in some money to help him buy gifts for his siblings, but he was adamant that he wanted to manage his gifts this year.

I admit that I’m really proud of him for that. Whatever he’s made, he is so excited to give those gifts to us Christmas morning. He even wrapped them himself, and they were the first gifts under the tree this year. Observing his enthusiasm has both delighted me and guided me to examine more closely my own gift giving this year.

I don’t hand out gifts to people because I expect anything in return. Likewise, those gifts mean more to me than just the price tag attached to them. The gifts I give to others are symbols of my affection and gratitude for a person. I care about you, and you are important to me are what I want my gifts to convey to their recipients. A gift at its root is a token of love.

Sometimes, it may feel like we just give gifts because that’s what we always do. This year, I wanted our family to do more than just get gifts for one another. Therefore, I asked each of my kids and my husband to think of someone who showed them kindness or blessed them in some way this year. Then, we decided to bless those individuals with a gift in return this Christmas season.

Do you give gifts during the Christmas holiday? If so, think about the true reason you present gifts to others. Is your gifting usually a positive or negative experience for you? If we are giving for the right reasons, a gift can be a blessing for both the receiver and the giver.

Luke 6:38 instructs us to, “Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”

The Biggest Giver

One of the most impactful and heart-warming stories about giving in the Bible, in my opinion, is a mere four verses that can be read in Mark 12:41-44. When I get worried about money or am feeling a little tight-fisted, I think of this passage and the woman with the generous heart.

We don’t know this woman’s name, but she is referred to as a poor widow. Jesus had been teaching in the temple courts all day and then, “Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury. Many rich people thew in large amounts,” (Mark 12:41).

To me, this is nothing out of the ordinary. The more money one has, the more one has available to give. In our country, the more you make, the more you’re taxed on that money. Thus, donating money to charities, organizations, churches, etc. can help with tax write-offs. Therefore, the rich giving large amounts of money seems reasonable.

However, this example doesn’t really highlight the true meaning of a gift. A gift shouldn’t be given to benefit the gifter, but to bring joy and blessings to the recipient. A true gift is given freely without expectation or contrivance.

The extraordinary part of the story is this: “But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worth only a few cents. Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, ‘Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything-all she had to live on,’” (Mark 12:42-44).

The widow gave it all, everything she had. Some may call that foolish, but Jesus saw her as faithful, loving, and obedient. Her gift might have appeared meager in material value to many, but Jesus recognized the significance of her gift.

Now, we don’t know what happened to this widow after giving her offering. The Bible doesn’t tell us whether she was blessed through her generosity or if she went on her way and struggled the rest of her life with financial hardship.

What we do know is that Jesus praised this widow and used her as an example to teach His disciples and us the importance of giving it all for Him and doing so freely and with a happy heart. Hearing such praise from our Savior would be a reward indeed!

2 Corinthians: 9:6-7 instructs us, “The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.”

Are you a cheerful giver? Do you give out of love or out of obligation or out of guilt? I think if we’re honest, we probably all have times when we give for each of those reasons. When we find ourselves gifting something for the wrong reasons, it’s important to remember what God’s Word teaches.

“If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing,” (1 Corinthians 13:3).

The love behind the gift is everything. Just as God loves us and gifts us eternal life through Jesus Christ, our gifts to others should reflect that love. Remember as written in James 1:17, “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.”

The Greatest Gift

As you mark off your Christmas gift purchases this year, I hope you keep your focus on the greatest gift of all, the gift of our Savior, Jesus Christ. The Lord gifted us His only Son to come dwell among us mere humans because God loves us and cares for us more than we could ever imagine.

“In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him,” (1 John 4:9).

Can you imagine if you had only one child and then sent that child off to be killed, by no fault of his/her own, to atone for the evilness of everyone else in the world? I’ll be honest; I couldn’t do it. I love my children too much. Aren’t you glad that God loves us, His children, more?

“See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are…” (1 John 3:1).

We know from Luke Chapter 2 that Jesus’ birth didn’t come with an earthly celebration. There was no warm blanketed cradle, no family and friends gathered in anticipation, and no big public birth announcement.

Jesus’ birth occurred without any material comforts. He was placed in and slept in what was essentially a feed trough. His birth was first announced to lowly shepherds. However, the heavens were rejoicing, and we can rejoice today as well!

“For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich,” (2 Corinthians 8:9).

Jesus gave us the greatest gift of all, His life for ours. He sacrificed himself for us…died a terrible death to save us from our sins, and through that, He gifted all of us the opportunity of eternal life. Aren’t you so grateful for that gift?

“But the gift is not like the trespass. For if by the one man’s trespass the many died, how much more have the grace of God and the gift which comes through the grace of the one man Jesus Christ overflowed to the many,” (Romans 5:15).

Christmas is right around the corner, and as we present gifts to our loved ones this holiday, let’s remember the truest gift of the season: Christ the Lord. Without Him, we wouldn’t be celebrating CHRISTmas at all.

As you hand out your gifts this next week, try to block out the stress and worldly constraints surrounding you, and give with happiness and love in your heart.

If you don’t have that gift of eternal life through salvation in Jesus Christ yet, know these things: It is a gift that has already been paid for. It is a gift that was freely given in love. It is a gift that will keep on giving. All you must do is accept it.

“If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” (Luke 11:13).

Have a blessed week!

-Becky