If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!
Matthew 7:11 ESV
I don’t know about you, but I have an innate pleasure in giving gifts. I miss the days when the kids were little and excited to rise early on Christmas morning to see what Santa had brought. Now that it is harder to get them all under one roof, I find my joy sagging a little. Buying gifts without the opportunity to see the joy of the one receiving is anticlimactic.
Gift giving is an expression of love we’ve inherited from God. We see his love for giving throughout scripture, starting in Genesis.
Then God said, “Let Us (Father, Son, Holy Spirit) make man in Our image, according to Our likeness [not physical, but a spiritual personality and moral likeness]; and let them have complete authority over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, the cattle, and over the entire earth, and over everything that creeps and crawls on the earth.”
Genesis 1:26 AMP
God created the earth and all the creatures on it, then gave it to us to steward. We may not recognize every gift he’s given us, but they are always good and perfect.
Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.
James 1:17 ESV
There is a reason Christmas has become known as the season of giving, It is in recognition of Father God’s most perfect gift given to us, Jesus.
Yes, God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him would not be lost but have eternal life.
John 3:16 ERV
So don’t misprize the giving of gifts at Christmas. It is in our nature because it is in God’s nature. Don’t think because you can’t afford to purchase gifts, that you don’t have something to give. Give of yourself. Give a hug or a smile, have a conversation, bake some cookies, spend time together, or volunteer. The list is endless.
This year I will try to take my own advice. I’ll still send some presents to be opened without me, but I will look for more ways to give my love to my family, whether they are present or away.
May you all have a Merry Christmas.
Grace & Peace,
Sandy
The Far Reaches of Grace 
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