By Allen White
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only
Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For
God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the
world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does
not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name
of God’s one and only Son. This is the verdict: Light has come into the world,
but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil.
Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for
fear that their deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes
into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has
been done in the sight of God. John 3:16-21
The wisemen gave gold, frankincense and
myrrh (Matthew 2:11). And, boy, has capitalism capitalized on that. Could it be
possible that the holiday shopping season starts after Halloween now? At this
rate, we could start seeing “After Christmas Sales” before Thanksgiving.
During the week of Thanksgiving,
commercial after commercial announced that stores would open at 3 am on Friday.
I thought, “And, the store is also open, right now.” But, I guess it’s not
really Christmas unless you are a cold, sleep-deprived Black Friday gladiator
fighting for the best deals. Ah, how it warms the heart.
I’m not opposed to gift giving. I enjoy
giving gifts and receiving them. I even like fruitcake. Gifts are great. Gift
receipts might be even better. Read my lips: I am not anti-presents. I am
pro-presents. But, why do we give?
We give some gifts because we should
give. These would be gifts for people who share our DNA, people we work with,
people we live near, and people who serve us. We like some of these people.
But, if we only gave to those we liked, it might be a much shorter list.
We give some gifts because people
expect it. If we didn’t give them something, they would be disappointed. They
might even retaliate.
We give some gifts because someone gave
us something. To not give them something would be like saying “I love you,” but
having no “I love you” return. They expect something of equal or greater value
in return. So, if I give you a $15 gift, then you give me a $16 gift. We work
this back and forth until one of us eventually dies owing someone hundreds of
thousands of dollars somehow (or did we just pay ourselves back?).
We give some gifts completely in the
dark. A truly thoughtful gift is giving exactly what they wanted without being
told what they wanted. This requires some sort of gift giving ESP that most men
lack. Ladies: to get what you want for Christmas, your man must be told. If he
is left to himself, then don’t be disappointed with a universal remote control
and beef jerky in your stocking. It’s his love language.
While Christmas giving has morphed into
something surreal compared to the simple scene in the manger, giving is still
at the center of Christmas. “God so loved the world that He gave…” We know
those words well. Hopefully, they haven’t become “yada, yada, yada” to us. God
didn’t give because we deserved it. God didn’t give because we expected Him to.
God didn’t give because He needed to reciprocate somehow. God gave because He
loves us. No matter who we are or what we’ve done or what we continue to do,
God loves us and desires to have a relationship with us. God doesn’t give
because it makes Him feel good. He gives because it’s His nature.
You and I are most like God when we are
generous. When we faithfully give to God’s work either in the offering plate or
online, we are reflecting God’s character and nature. In fact, the antidote to
materialism is generosity. Rather than allowing money and things to control our
lives, we can enjoy the freedom of giving it away.
Giving also demonstrates our trust in
God. If I commit a portion of my income to Kingdom causes, I trust that God
will provide for all of my needs. That provision might be increased income or shoes
that last for 40 years (Deuteronomy 29:5).
How do you trust God through your
giving this Christmas? How are you celebrating this year and remembering why we
celebrate?
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