Gift Giving
Tuesday December 9, 2014
These are days in which we consider the giving of Christmas gifts to those we love. Tonight, volunteers with Partners in Hope will gather at a venue in Vancouver to wrap thousands of gifts. These gifts will be distributed at various times and places during the Christmas season to people who are in need this year. These are simple gifts and we get lots of help to wrap them. The paper is precut to allow us to quickly wrap each gift. Groups of volunteers wrap similar items. As we wrap the same type of item over and over again we get better and quicker as we go. By the time the gifts are wrapped, sorted, and stuffed into lovely cloth bags we have a gift that a person will truly enjoy when they receive it.
God has given gifts to all of us. These are our talents and abilities. Sometimes we think our gifts are small or not worth much. We compare our abilities with another person’s rather than joining our efforts and talents with those of others in order to accomplish something lovely together. Sometimes we need to remember that in the same way gifted athletes, gifted musicians, or gifted speakers spend years of study or practice to bring their ability to excellence, so the gifts of God we find in ourselves are often, at first, in an unformed and needing-to-be-developed state. The way to get the full benefit of our gifts for ourselves, for God, and for others is to keep doing what we can do and improve how we do it through repeated practice. It doesn’t matter what our gift is because the more we use it, the better we get.
Don’t let anyone think less of you because you are young. Be an example to all believers in what you say, in the way you live, in your love, your faith, and your purity. Until I get there, focus on reading the Scriptures to the church, encouraging the believers, and teaching them. Do not neglect the spiritual gift you received through the prophecy spoken over you when the elders of the church laid their hands on you. Give your complete attention to these matters. Throw yourself into your tasks so that everyone will see your progress. (1 Timothy 4:12-15 NLT)
Let's live gifted lives as we prepare for Christmas this year and enjoy the way God uses us, together with others, to bless many who might otherwise miss out.
©2014 Partners in Hope
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Partners in Hope is supported wholly by our friends and community. We are thankful to everyone who partners with us to help bring hope to the discouraged, hurting, and hopeless.