The Gift from God

“Everyone should look out not only for his own interest, but also for the interest of others.”

Philippians 2:4

Christmas is approaching very quickly and it will be here in less than a month. Black Friday and Cyber Monday have already come and gone. Stores are open extra hours and retail sales are expected to exceed $579 billion, according to some estimates. The average household will spend between $200 and $500 per child with many exceeding this range by substantial amounts. Is it any wonder that with each passing generation individuals are getting more and more selfish? When I was a kid Christmas was exciting and receiving a gift was a special thing. Nowadays the gift is everything. This extreme selfishness in gift giving and receiving is one of the effects of the fall of humanity.

Why do you give gifts? I find that at Christmas the motive for gift giving often falls into one of three categories: (1) to make yourself happy. The main reason you spend time and money on the gift is so you will hear them say, “Aw! It’s just what I wanted.” Then you feel good about yourself and you just know they love you. (2) Is the, “I give good stuff so I’ll get good stuff.” You have come to the conclusion that people give to you in equal proportion to what you have given them. You give so you will get and be happy. Each of these motives always falls short of true lasting happiness, which brings me to reason (3) you give to reflect God’s glory.

The greatest gift ever given was when God gave Jesus to the world so that He could provide atonement for sin, so that a hopeless people could find hope. Philippians 4:13 says, “For it is God who is working in you enabling you both to desire and work out His good pleasure.” As a follower of Jesus God is enabling and using you to point people to God’s gift of salvation through Jesus. Unfortunately Satan through misplaced gift giving and receiving has blinded the eyes of people.

I urge you this Christmas don’t spend much time thinking about your own interests rather use your God given resources and love for others to give a gift that will reflect the love of God. After all, “God so loved the world He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believes in Him will not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16).