My favorite time of year is finally here. To say I love Christmas would be an understatement. I love everything about it. The lights, the cocoa, the food, the music, the movies, the presents, the decorations, and the cocoa (I think I already said that but I really like hot cocoa). I love spending time with my family and friends. I love the feeling of joy all of it brings me. Of course, I couldn’t complete a list of things I love about Christmas without mentioning Christ! We wouldn’t have Christmas without Him! However, my absolute favorite thing about Christmas is…. giving gifts!!!
I love finding that perfect gift for someone. I am always listening throughout the year for hints from the people around me. I am not talking about the latest and greatest gadgets, but I am talking about those gifts that touch the heart. The gifts that render someone speechless. The gifts that bring a tear to the eye. It’s those keepsake gifts that will be remembered. Sometimes these gifts aren’t something that can be wrapped in a box or put in a bag, but it’s the time you spend with someone. It’s the kindness you show someone.
I truly believe God put this love of giving in my heart. I believe it is part of the ministry He has prepared for me. But I also believe He used my parents to plant the seed for a heart of giving. I have watched my parents give of themselves my whole life, and they taught my sister and me the importance of giving and helping others when we were very young. Every year since I was a child, my family has chosen an individual or a family that was going through a hard time to provide Christmas for. Now my family is not considered rich by this world's standards, but God has always provided for us. Some years it may have been something simple or small, but they have always made a point to help someone. Oftentimes, it has been anonymous.
Please don’t take this blog as a place for bragging or saying “Look what we did;” that is not my point or purpose on this platform. I just want to encourage others to give this Christmas. Give of yourself! Give your time! It doesn’t have to cost anything. If you are looking for a way to give back this Christmas, but you have no money, go volunteer. Take your kids to a local nursing home and sing some carols. This is something else my parents did each year with our youth group. It is a humbling and blessed experience to interact with the residents of a nursing home. It taught me how to have compassion and empathy for others. It can be heartbreaking, but also very rewarding. I highly recommend every child and adult to have that experience sometime in their life.
Whichever way God leads you to give, give with all your heart. Don’t give grudgingly, out of necessity, or expecting anything in return, but give out of the love of your heart. If you want to know the right way to give gifts to others, look to the word of God. Christ set the greatest example of how to give. He was selfless and gave His life for all the world. He also gives each one of us daily blessings and asks nothing in return.
Before closing, I have one more part about giving I must share. In Acts 20:35, the KJV Bible says, “I have shewed you all things, how that so laboring ye ought to support the weak, and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, It is more blessed to give than to receive.” When you give to others, you think you are being the blessing, but you walk away feeling blessed and full of joy that no words can truly describe the happiness flooding your heart. It is that feeling that makes you want to continue to give. My question for you is, what will you give this Christmas?
Commenti