The Joy Of Giving

      I love giving gifts to those I love, don’t you? There is something special about bringing joy to others at Christmas as they open the presents we give them. However, as I have said to many, it is easy to love those we love. It is much more challenging to love those we don’t much like. Real generosity of our time, money, and energy is to give to those in need, not just those that are easy to love.  

This time of year our hearts seem to be more open to giving to the needs of others than other times of year. Perhaps, it the understanding of the great gift God has given to us (2 Cor. 9:15)? Or perhaps it is all the movies and books and such we watch and read this time of year. Whatever the reason it is a good thing.

When the translators of the King James translation of the Bible sought the most powerful word in their culture for love they chose “charity” in 1 Corinthians 13. Today we often see this word as negative. We say things like, “I don’t want your charity;” or “I am not a charity case.” The concept of genuine love expressed in charity is biblical.

Consider the chilling words of Christ in Matthew 25:31-46. Jesus in verses 35-40 said, “For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in; naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.’ “Then the righteous will answer Him, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You, or thirsty, and give You something to drink? ‘And when did we see You a stranger, and invite You in, or naked, and clothe You?  ‘When did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ “The King will answer and say to them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.’^”

In this passage Jesus says on the Day of Judgment we will give an account for how we have given to and cared for others. There are few things in this world that reveals our hearts and attitudes than our practice of generosity. Through generosity we demonstrate in a concrete form what we love most, we love others more than we do our own comfort. 2 Corinthians 8:9 and 9:15 gives us the example of Christ for how we should give. With that in mind, are you showing grace and generosity to others not only during the Christmas season, but year round?

Merry Christmas my friends