How Do You Receive Gifts? God Is The Ultimate Gift Giver

I have a love/hate relationship with gift giving.

I love the idea of giving gifts, especially unexpected ones because the receiver is not expecting a gift; they have no expectations about the gift I am giving. However, I dislike having to pick out an expected gift to give, like birthdays or Christmas. I worry the person won't like what I have made or bought. I worry about cost or if it is enough. I think one of the main reason I don't like gift-giving is that I don't pay close enough attention to what the person really needs or desires.

I also think I dislike gift-giving because I am not a good gift-receiver (ask my husband how many of his gifts I have not appreciated over the years). I look at the gift instead of the love that is in the giving of the gift. I am expecting what I want in a gift instead of what the gift-giver has been led to give me. I know what I want and overlook the potential joy that may be in the giving of the gift or the gift itself.

Many of us are just not good at receiving which makes it more difficult to give. How we receive gifts greatly affects how we give gifts. If we are unappreciative of the gifts we don't like or think we don't need, then we will be hesitant to give gifts for fear the recipient will not appreciate our gifts so much so that gift-giving becomes a drudgery instead of a joy.

We have all received the greatest gift we could ever imagine, eternal life in Christ, yet how many don't appreciate the gift or don't see the need for it. How many are expecting something else in the gift and miss the joy of the only gift we truly need? How many take the gift for granted, thinking it can be put on a shelf and pulled out when needed or convenient? It is the perfect gift for each and every one of us, yet so many fail to fully receive and appreciate this precious gift.

If we were doing the gift-giving and the recipient didn't appreciate it, how long would we continue to give that person gifts? Praise God that He is the ultimate gift-giver and He never tires of giving to us, even when we aren't good receivers! He has already given us the perfect gift, yet He continues to give to us daily. His giving is never a drudgery or chore, it is who He is, the Great Giver. He never frets about how we will accept His gift for He knows they are perfect for us.

We can be a good gift-giver, too, by following God's example, but first we have to expectantly receive the gifts God gives us. We need to be looking for the gifts God knows we need instead of demanding or expecting gifts we think we need.

We need to accept the gift of Christ and use it daily, hourly, moment by moment. Most of all, we need to be so full of thanksgiving for the gift of eternal life, being a good gift-receiver, that we strive everyday to use the gifts God has given us, allowing us to be good gift-givers! What do you need to do to become a better gift-receiver and -giver?

John‬ ‭3‬:‭16‬ NIV

16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

JODI HENDRICKS IS A LONG-TIME MEMBER OF FARMINGTON UNITED METHODIST CHURCH. SHE TEACHES ADULT AND YOUTH BIBLE CLASSES. THE OPINIONS EXPRESSED ARE THOSE OF THE AUTHOR.