Giving & Receiving

    Trying to find gifts for certain people — or letting others know what you want — can be challenging.  After all, most of us don’t really need anything.

     Realizing that the best gifts aren’t material items offers a new perspective on giving and receiving. Consider these insights from author Charles Swindoll:  “Some gifts you can give this Christmas are beyond monetary value: Mend a quarrel, dismiss suspicion, tell someone ‘I love you.’ Give something away — anonymously. Forgive someone who has treated you wrong.  Turn away wrath with a soft answer.  Visit someone in a nursing home.  Apologize if you were wrong.  Be especially kind to someone with whom you work.  Give as God gave to you in Christ, without obligation, or announcement, or reservation, or hypocrisy.”

     Sometimes we may be generous in giving, but not very gracious in receiving.  In Acts 20:35 the apostle Paul reminded some visiting friends from Ephesus that Jesus said, “It is more blessed to give than to receive”.  Apparently, Jesus did not say that receiving was not blessed.  He just said the greater blessing comes from giving.  Jesus was one who both gave & received.

     Jesus was often the recipient of gifts, invitations and acts of kindness.  He enjoyed attending weddings, being an overnight guest in someone’s home or being a guest for a meal.  He allowed Mary to anoint his feet with costly perfume, and did not object when she wiped his feet with her hair.  He even asked for and received a drink of water from the Samaritan woman, although Jews and Samaritans usually had nothing to do with one another.

     The bottom line is this: Be a giver, but also be a grateful and happy receiver.  Giving and receiving both bring blessings.  We have a good example of both in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.