Merry Christmas!
- What was your favorite Christmas gift?
- What gift was most fun to give?
- What gift will you return as soon as you can?
Christmas is celebrated in a variety of ways. Every family is a little different.
Which one most closely matches you?
Some families go all out, some keep it quiet and simple.
There are families that draw names for gifts, others prefer to be practical and make “lists.”
Many families celebrate on Christmas morning, others on Christmas Eve.
A few (A.K.A. The movie Christmas with the Kranks) try to SKIP Christmas and go on vacation!
Whatever way you celebrate, I trust it’s been filled with love, laughter, friends and family, and continues through the holidays.
I also hope this season has been more holy than hectic for you, but it’s often both.
Jesus is the greatest gift of all and brings us the holy in all the hectic. His Peace is ours for the blessing if we will slow down and take a few moments to savor His presence.
One of the ways we can savor the presence of the Savior is to recognize and express gratitude for the gifts He makes possible.
The “good and perfect gifts” from our Savior have no price tag but are priceless. (James 1:17)
Top 10 greatest gifts … (with a little twist at the end.)
1) The trust of a close friend
Fewer things in life are more cherished than a close friend.
A genuine friend encourages and challenges us to live our best thoughts, honor our purest motives, and achieve our most significant dreams.
Truly knowing someone opens the door for trust, and trust creates a path for love. Love allows a friendship to be based on what it gives, not what it gets, which also cultivates trust.
The path to close friendships:
- Friendship stays alive by serving the other, not seeking to be served.
- Friendship is motivated by love, not debt.
- Friendship is willing to sacrifice without seeing or expecting a return.
A friend is someone who knows you well and still likes you.
2) The freedom to choose
No society is perfect, but the one in which we still have the freedom to choose is a great gift.
Consider the impact of just a few examples:
- Freedom to read what you want to read
- Freedom to vote for your choice
- Freedom to live by your values
- Freedom to say no
- Freedom to worship our great God
Many believe this gift is worth fighting for. That’s not my focus for today, but simply to inspire our gratitude and perhaps to cherish the freedom to choose by continuing to choose wisely.
3) The love of a child
When my 3 ½ year old granddaughter Anza comes over to our house, enters the door with her arms outstretched and exclaims “PAPA!” I am completely smitten and filled with joy. . . EVERY. TIME.
There is no pretense, her love is pure, and my joy overflows. There is a certain innocence in the love of a child that knows nothing but what their heart tells them.
Love is still the greatest cure the world has ever known. Genuine love makes you feel totally accepted, just the way you are. This love is a reflection of God’s love and touches us in the deepest places of our soul.
4) The pleasure of laughter
I have a small smooth stone on my desk that has the word laugh painted on it. It’s a reminder to me not to take the world (an especially myself) too seriously.
In my role and responsibility as a leader I invest much of my time solving problems, but I can still choose to maintain a light-hearted spirit.
A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones. Proverbs 17:22
Each of us can always find the lighter side of life, even in the darkest of times, if we pursue it with intentionality.
5) The privilege to learn
I’m a student by nature, how about you? I love to learn and find myself curious about so many things.
There are countless people on this planet that do not have the opportunity to learn, or if they do, its greatly limited. The surprising thing is that for many who do have the privilege to learn, they don’t.
This is not just about reading books and going to school, but more importantly, the desire to learn from our mistakes and become the best version of ourselves.
It is wise to remain curious, cultivate your imagination, refuse to get stuck in a rut, and keep learning and growing.
6) The opportunity to excel
Most leaders I know, in fact most people I know, want to grow, improve and even dare to excel.
It is truly a gift to be able to excel in being the person God intended you to be, and to excel at doing what He designed you to do.
When you pray and look for these opportunities its good to be ready.
(What you pray for you look for, and what you look for you find.)
Opportunity is a gift, and when it knocks on your door, it’s wise to at least open the door and consider the options rather than merely allowing it to pass you by because you greeted it with all the reasons it wouldn’t work.
What can you be doing now to be ready?
7) The blessing of good health
Can you recall the greatest sickness or pain you’ve ever experienced? That’s a quick and sure way to be reminded of the value of good health. It’s truly a gift.
Good health is among the greatest gifts because it’s never guaranteed, and without it our personal world begins to shrink. This is true because depending on the severity, nearly all we can manage is the task of getting well again.
One of the best ways to cherish the gift of good health is to take care of yourself physically. The new year is coming, what new resolve might you set your mind to accomplish for the good of your body?
Some of the most personal and most passionate prayers of believers are prayers for healing. God can heal us, but how can we join Him in the process?
8) The value of experience
If you are a pastor, can you remember your first sermon? How’d that go?
Mine was nearly a disaster, if there was ever a do-over needed that was my moment. Thank God for the grace of those kind people at Lakeside Wesleyan Church in 1978. (And great gratitude to Pastor Rich Lauby for giving me the chance and then giving me a second chance.)
Great wisdom comes from experience, learning from our mistakes and becoming better at what we do.
Just because we work for ten years doesn’t mean we have ten years of experience. Unfortunately, it can mean one year of experience ten times.
Keep stretching and growing. The value of experience cannot be overestimated.
9) The grace of God
The grace of God that leads to salvation not only warms the soul, forgives our sin and welcomes eternal life, but provides the encouragement to keep going.
There is no gift like it. The grace of God removes the meaningless nature of existence without Him and replaces it with purpose and power.
“Live fast, die young and leave a beautiful corpse” is a somewhat morbid quote attached to several possible authors, but without Christ, I can see why this saying has caught on.
Life eternal is the greatest gift of all. I hope you have received it, it’s yours for the asking by faith and following the One who gives this great gift. Jesus. (John 3:16; Ephesians 2:8)
For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God.
Ephesians 2:8
10) Here’s the twist… You can fill this one in – in the comment section if you like!
What is the greatest gift you can add so the list is complete!
Or tell us your favorite of the first 9.
