The Greatest Gift
Dear Friends:
What was the best Christmas gift that you have ever received? Wow, I guess my answer would depend on when in my life the question was asked! It would range from action figures, to electronics, to golf clubs.
Let’s turn around the question and ask, what is the best Christmas gift that you have ever given? Again, your answer will depend on your life stage. Probably your answer will contain the fact that you gave a gift that the recipients valued and wanted. You gave what they consider to be their greatest gift.
An interesting aspect of Christmas is that while we focus on praise and worship as a gift to Jesus, He allows us to express our love to Him by giving Christmas gifts to our loved ones. God is a giver (“For God so loved the world that He gave”) and He gives only His best (“His only and Son”). So, if follows that He wrote into the DNA of our hearts that we are to be givers and to give our very best.
As followers of Jesus Christ, we know how to give our best to God and to our loved ones. We know that we are to love God and love our neighbors as ourselves. But, what gift can we give to those who are not our loved ones, our friends, our seemingly not in our sphere of influence? What can we give to the lonely, the depressed, and the hopeless?
As we know that we are in intimate relationship with God, we can gift the greatest gift ever and that is connecting others with the love of Jesus Christ. Just as we received Immanuel, God with us, and transformed our lives, we can give the gift of Jesus to those “bruised” by life and left “smoldering.” He will bring justice to them (Isaiah 42:3-4) and recreate them in His love.
What greater gift could we bring than to do our part in connecting those harassed by life and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd, to the great I AM. He is the One who will save them from their sins (Matthew 1:21) and fulfill in them their reason for being created.
We give by loving God with the entirety of our being. We give with our words and deeds to others; those we love and we even bless those who curse us.
As you go about this Christmas season, ask the Lord how you can give away His love to others. Sure, we love unconditionally our spouse and our children. Also, let’s be intentional about expressing God’s love to everyone who crosses our path and consider every encounter with an individual as a divinely orchestrated appointment.
Those who see true love expressed in our words and actions, and those who accept Divine Love will know sincerely that this was the greatest gift that they have ever received. To God be the glory!
If you are looking for a way to give the greatest gift to others this Christmas season, please remember Network211. Please visit www.Network211.com/Projects to see our projects by nation and by country. Your gift of $100 will share the Good News with 2,000 individuals around the world.
Merry Christmas!
Blessings,
Mark
Network211 President
