Who has finished their Christmas shopping?? I’m not even close!! I don’t know about you, but this time of year is stressful for me. My Love Language is definitely not gift giving. Both times my husband I have done the quiz in the book, it has come in dead last. Thankfully, it isn’t his language either. Regardless of what our love language is, we have all received gifts at one point or another. I’d like for you to think about the best gift anybody ever gave you for a moment. What did it mean to you? How did it make you feel? Was it something useful the giver knew would be helpful to you? Or an item they thought you would really enjoy having or eating or reading. Did receiving it bring you feelings of joy or thankfulness? Did the gift cause you to act in a certain way toward the giver or toward others??

Now, I’d like to take to tell you about one of the best gifts I have ever received. It is a golden plastic medal on a red, white and blue ribbon. It wasn’t expensive or particularly beautiful, at least not to anybody but me. I can’t eat it and its purpose is not tangible. But what it symbolizes to me makes it priceless.

Back last May I was feeling scared about having my boys home all day every day for the entire summer. I had become a little crazy and was screaming around the house more than I was comfortable with. Truth be told I was somewhat frightened my neighbors could hear me through the walls. I knew enough to ask for prayers and even snatched up a book called “She’s Gonna Blow,” which seemed to pinpoint how I was feeling. A particularly wise friend took the time to really listen and talk to me and made a suggestion about how to start mending the situation. Let me first tell you that her recommendation was tough to swallow. She wanted me to apologize to them… What mom wants to ask for forgiveness from her children???

What happened on my couch that afternoon not only changed my relationship with my kids, but it has also helped me understand God’s gift of love and salvation in ways I had not fully comprehended before.

I sat my boys down when they got home after school and told them I didn’t like how I had been acting. That I was sorry I had become such a screamer. That they deserved better from me. I asked them to forgive me and then I asked them for their help in establishing a new way of doing things around the house. There were a lot of tears and hugs and “I love you’s” shared, but then my babies gave me this medal. They said it was for me “to keep” which if you have small children, you know how huge that is. They told me I was the best mommy in the world. In that moment I felt love and forgiveness in a way that I had forgotten could be so powerful. I was motivated by their gift to me to be the kind of mother my boys truly deserve.

In the months since, I have spent a considerable amount of time contemplating how what happened with my children that day is similar to the experience we have when we humble ourselves before our God, sincerely repent of our sin and accept with open arms all the gifts He has prepared for us.

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:16

“For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God has prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.” Ephesians 2:8-9

“For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 6:23

God gave us Jesus – for keeps – By accepting and believing in Him as our Lord and Savior, we also have eternal life with Him in Heaven and all the joy and hope and freedom that comes with that. When we acknowledge our sinfulness, ask for His forgiveness and declare our need for a savior, He gives it even more freely than my children did. This is the gift that changed the world.

Do you remember how you felt when you first received this most precious gift? Did you make a spectacle of yourself gushing over it like a toddler’s handmade gift that is soon buried in a pile on your desk. Did you mumble a polite “thank you” and then too quickly hide it in the bottom of your closet like a holiday sweater from Grandma you were too ashamed to wear? Did it get misplaced in the junk drawer like so many unused gift cards? Maybe you sent a sincere thank you, but you have stowed it safely away in a cabinet like wedding china, only to be taken out on special occasions. Perhaps you wear it proudly every single day as you would a precious necklace from your husband.

Possibly you are still waiting to take hold of the gift. Maybe you don’t feel like you deserve it yet. Or you think you need to be able to recite all the books of the bible in order or the names each of the prophets, or be giving a certain percentage of your money to the church to receive His love. God’s gift of salvation doesn’t work like lay away. He isn’t going to check your credit or hold on to the gift until you have made all the necessary payments. The price was paid in full by Christ on the cross, we don’t even owe any interest. He simply requires that we humble ourselves before Him, acknowledging our own sin and unworthiness and receive His love and sacrifice with open arms.

God is not an “Indian Giver” either. He will never take back what He has given in love for our salvation. Nothing can separate us from the love of God. Paul wrote to the early Christians in Rome that “neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing shall be able to separate us from the love of our God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 8:37-39 It is because of His great unfailing love for us that He gave us the matchless gift of salvation through His Son and nothing that has happened, is going on right now in your life or will ever take place would cause Him to take it back.

Once we believe and accept this first Gift, He is anxious to shower all of us with even more….

The Word

2 Timothy 3:16 “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly prepared for every good work.”

He gives us the Bible and all that is contained within it as a guide for our lives. This is His love story to us.

Wisdom

James 1:5 “If any of you lacks wisdom, let Him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him.”

If we ask Him for His wisdom He never fails to deliver.

The Law

Deuteronomy 5:22 “…And He wrote them on two tablets of stone and gave [The 10 Commandments] to me.”

A set of rules may not be at the top of your wish list this year, but it gives us direction and helps us avoid sin. The more we learn about it the more it should shape our thoughts and actions.

The Holy Spirit

Acts 2:38 “Then Peter said to them, “Repent and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”

Holy Spirit’s presence in our lives serves as a guide for us. If we fully tap into this resource, we can walk confidently along the course God intends for us.

Blessings

Psalm 85:12 “Yes, the Lord will give what is good and our land will yield its increase.”

Every good thing we enjoy in this life has been provided for us at His good pleasure.

Spiritual Gifts

1 Corinthians 12:4-11 “There are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. There are differences of ministries, but the same Lord. And there are diversities of the activities, but it is the same God who works all in all. But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all: for to one is given the word of wisdom through the spirit, to another the word of knowledge through the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healings by the same Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another discerning of spirits, to another different kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually, as He wills.”

Do you know what your spiritual gifts are? If you have never taken a spiritual gifts test, I urge you to take one like the one from the Fuller Institute found at this link. We all have them, so why not find out what God has specifically gifted you with. Quickly answer each of the questions with your first instinct. Please don’t over-think your responses. Be honest with yourself, too. Don’t answer the questions the way you think you should or according to what you think you ought to be doing. Answer for what you actually do right now, or have done in the past.

Once you finish, tally up your results according to the directions there. Just a little bit of math required. Don’t be discouraged if your scores aren’t high. Use the results as a guide to pray for ways to use and gain experience with the gifts for which you showed some propensity.

Tomorrow I will post part two of this three part series!