When this blog started forming in my mind, I started puzzling out a title that would convey the whole picture. Then I looked for an image that would show a life as a gift. This title and picture, don’t fully measure up to my intentions, but the image is seasonally appropriate and will grab your attention, and the title will be explored in the post, so here we go.

My life is a gift. This is the realization that gave me an aha moment. It came to me in church, but not through the sermon. It was in all my negativity, all my complaints. The Holy Spirit was taking me through a paradigm shift in how I thought about myself and how I interact with the people in my life.

Before I move on — your life is a gift too. I hope this revelation will help you see things in a new way.

So God created human beings in his own image. In the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.
Then God looked over all he had made, and he saw that it was very good! And evening passed and morning came, marking the sixth day.

Genesis 1:27, 31 NLT

From the very beginning God gave human beings life. Then he looked over all he had made and reveled in the goodness of creation. Our existence is good.

Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.

James 1:17 NKJV

Our life is one of his good gifts, and there is no shadow in his goodness. Let me clarify — God’s gift of life to us is good. I thought about calling this blog An Actionable Gift, because we choose how we use that gift, so while his gift of our life is good, we can make a mess of it.

Before I explore deeper, I have one more verse that reveals we are a gift.

Children are a gift from the Lord; they are a real blessing.

Psalm 127:3 GNT

We are born a gift from the Lord to the people in our lives. If we can see ourselves in this light it opens our minds to think differently about ourselves. We can be a gift. We can be a blessing. God declares by giving us life that we have value.

Here is just a sliver of the idea of an actionable gift.

If you have really experienced the Anointed One, and heard his truth, it will be seen in your life; for we know that the ultimate reality is embodied in Jesus!

And never let ugly or hateful words come from your mouth, but instead let your words become beautiful gifts that encourage others; do this by speaking words of grace to help them.

The Holy Spirit of God has sealed you in Jesus Christ until you experience your full salvation. So never grieve the Spirit of God or take for granted his holy influence in your life.

Ephesians 4:21, 29-30 TPT

Another note I jotted down to myself was “judgment jam”. Have you been there before? Maybe you were judging someone else, but maybe you were judging yourself. I thought about it like opening a jar of jam and getting it all over. So sticky. So messy. This is why the Holy Spirit wants me to see myself and other people as gifts he values.

Two scriptures come to mind that I’m sure you know, so I’ll paraphrase. Love your neighbor as yourself and do not judge lest you be judged, but there is one that is a favorite of mine when it comes to judging myself or others:

Who are you to judge the servants of someone else? It is their own Master who will decide whether they succeed or fail. And they will succeed, because the Lord is able to make them succeed.

Romans 14:4 GNT

It is God who reserves judgement and it is God who will make us succeed in this gift of life.

Overall I’m a big picture person, but sometimes I will get lost in the details — my aches and pains, my failures, the failures of others, the unmet expectations — the list goes on. I lose sight of the created-ness of me. That I’m not an afterthought. Let me leave you with this:

Every single moment you are thinking of me! How precious and wonderful to consider that you cherish me constantly in your every thought! O God, your desires toward me are more than the grains of sand on every shore! When I awake each morning, you’re still with me.

Psalms 139:17-18 TPT

Grace & Peace,

Sandy