Best. Gift. Ever.

Part One:Giving

Gift giving can be stressful. I catch myself wanting to find ”the perfect gift” for each person. Something they will love that is both practical and fun. Something that nobody else would even think of giving them. The gift that shows how much I really care about that person. And I’m fairly certain that I’m putting way too much pressure on myself.

My relationships with family and friends do not depend upon the gifts I give them, and my gift-giving abilities are limited. I am not going to find something to wrap that will fix all of someone’s problems, no matter what the infomercials may claim. I cannot physically hand out joy, peace, and love tied up with a bow. There is nothing I can stuff in a gift bag that will change a person’s heart or give them the strength they need to endure.

But I can share Jesus, the only gift anyone will ever need. I can let His Light shine in my life so that others might see that God is the One who holds everything good. I can pray for my family and friends to find what they need in Jesus, even if I have no idea what their specific needs are. I can strive to be an example to my little girl of putting Christ first in Christmas and every other area of my life.

Part Two: Receiving

When a gift is given, no matter how much thought and love are put into it, the recipient ultimately chooses what to do with the offering. The receiver has the power to use the gift for its intended purpose, donate or throw it away, or hide it and only pretend to love it when someone is watching.

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

John 3:16

There is no greater or more precious gift than Jesus, the gift that God offers to every one of us. We each have the power to decide what to do with Him in our lives. We can choose to:

• Throw Him away like an unwanted present, ignoring the fact that He is the only Way.
• Acknowledge Him on special occasions, never fully appreciating His sacrifice or letting Him have full control of our lives.
• Prefer other offerings and our own ideas instead of Him, not realizing they only lead to destruction.
• Or we can accept Him completely, believing in our hearts that He is the Son of God, and allow Him to be Lord of our lives.

That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.

Romans 10:9

I pray that all of you who read this post have accepted God’s perfect gift and have Jesus in your lives. He’s the only way to have a truly Merry Christmas!!