As I waited in line at the post office this week I began
talking with the guy in front of me. I learned he was in his 70’s, working at a
nearby hospital. He’d left his home in Georgia to fulfill a three year
contract, filling a need of the hospital. He had probably 8 large boxes he was
mailing. He shared that he has a lot of siblings, and they live all over the
country. They get together to celebrate milestone birthdays around different
themes that speak to the birthday person. He had pictures from each of their events and he’d made 500 piece crossword puzzles for each sibling’s Christmas
present, using a picture from their special 40th birthday party.
However, this was an above and beyond gift. He’d already
shipped off a snow globe to each of them, and he was delighted to predict how
surprised they’d be to get another gift.
When he finished telling me his story, I said, “you really love giving
gifts, don’t you?” He broke into this
huge smile and said, “I love it!” This was why he was still working, to afford
to continue bestowing gifts on his family and friends.
I can relate. Gift giving is my love language, or one of
them. I love the hunt, looking for things that mean something to each person
(or somethings – I often can’t just settle on one gift). This year I had fun
with a thematic gift comprised of a lot of smaller gifts. I love giving. I love
packaging my giving in beautiful ways. I have a friend who is the master of
gift packaging, and I’ve copied a lot of her ideas through the years. I’ve
learned that part of the gift is the packaging. And It isn’t all about money
spent either. I have enjoyed making gifts over the years, especially when money
was tight. This year I made candles.
Not everyone is comfortable receiving gifts. There have been
times when my family has suggested we set a one gift limit, or literally one
gift by drawing a name. I have a friend whose family does this. But she always
gets gifts for everyone, not just her chosen person, and I’d be the same. But
that can make some people uncomfortable. As a giver I have to be sensitive to
my receivers. It’s lovely to surprise someone with the “perfect” gift (and
there really is no such thing as “perfect” anything), but if the giving
overwhelms, embarrasses or troubles them, then it isn’t fun. My family knows I
just go a little crazy in my giving. They know I am not expecting anything in
return. Don’t get me wrong, I love receiving gifts too, but I can be content in
just watching others accept my gifts to them.
In this season of giving and receiving we can forget the
Greatest Gift – Jesus. If giving isn’t your love language, then buying gifts
can be very stressful and one additional chore in an already stressful time. We
can get so caught up in the busyness that we lose sight of why we are doing
this at all. I love lavishing gifts of all types of things, not all fit in a
box. I love cooking and serving and entertaining my loved ones. But it’s all
that preparation that can drain us. And then Christmas is just an anxiety filled
blur.
I realize the most important gift I can give people is
myself. I pray all the time that my family, friends, strangers can see Jesus in
me. As I offer love and kindness, consideration and friendship, they can see
something in me that might draw them to God. Because that is the most important
gift. “We love because He first loved us.”
Ruth Chou Simons, in her book Emmanuel, says, “Don’t we sometimes expect God to be like Santa
Claus, delivering all the good to the deserving and somehow ‘getting the memo’
on all our wishes and longings? But our Messiah is no Santa Claus. He doesn’t
simply promise to deliver gifts; He
promises to be the gift we truly need. How has He provided for you this
season? How has the good news of Jesus been the gift your soul needs?” (Italics
mine)
Since Christmas celebrates the birth of Jesus, God coming to
us as a baby in a manger, the greatest gift we could ever receive, our
Christmas should reflect that. For some, receiving God’s gift is extremely
hard. They don’t want to open the gift because they aren’t sure how it will
impact them – will they never get to have fun again? Will they lose friends
because they’ve become “religious”? Will they open the package and find it
isn’t what the giver promised? Will they be disappointed? Will it require
something from them? Do they even
deserve this gift? Maybe a mistake has been made and this gift isn’t for them.
God’s gift lies unopened by a lot of people. God’s love
language is gift giving too. Everything we have came from God, whether we see
it or not. But the greatest gift is Jesus, and not just the Person, but what
that babe in a manger went on to do for us, so we could be in relationship with
God. God doesn’t force His gift onto us. We have to accept the gift and
open it. Leaving it under the tree, or packing it away somewhere, like that
Chia Pet you never wanted, won’t bring God into your life. You have to accept and open His gift.
As you finish wrapping those presents and putting them under
your tree, remember the true reason we even have this celebration. Pray over
the receivers of your gifts, that they will come to receive and open the most
important gift of all, Jesus.
Blessings on your week. Merry Christmas!
Emmanuel: an Invitation to Prepare Him Room at Christmas and Always, by Ruth Chou Simons. (Harvest House Publishers, 2022)
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