Gifts

The holiday season is approaching so I have been thinking about gifts. Giving gifts is truly giving when we don’t expect anything in return. We give gifts to family members because we love them, but sometimes in the back of our minds we are expecting a gift in return. We give gifts to charities because of the needs the gifts help serve. But do we also give so that we can feel good about ourselves.

Wouldn’t it be great this holiday season, if we could give gifts without the expectation of receiving something in return? Perhaps we could give a gift to someone not normally on our list. Perhaps we could even give a gift to a stranger. Maybe we could do a special kindness for someone we barely know or a stranger. It would be great if I could surprise myself by sacrificing a part of the season to help others. Sure, I would benefit by feeling good about myself, but if it is true sacrifice on my part, then my motivation is really to help others.

Hebrews 13:16 encourages us to sacrifice in this way by saying, “Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God.”