A Perfect Gift for Everyone

As we get ready to celebrate Christmas we get so wrapped up in the hustle and bustle we end up just like the presents under the tree, wrapped so tight and with so much ribbon we can’t breathe. We fall for the lie that we must find a perfect gift for everyone, wrap them all just right and make sure to top them with big beautiful bows. We think that if we don’t give someone the perfect gift or exactly what they want we will somehow fail as a good person. Or worse yet, we won’t show how much we love the receiver of the gift. This ridiculous train of thought is a recipe for disaster just like that fruitcake recipe from aunt Lulu that everyone throws in the trash the minute aunt Lulu has left the house. No offense aunt Lulu… we know you made it with love and that’s honestly all that matters. We just don’t want to eat it.

Our love for one another can’t be bought in a store.

You can’t take love and wrap it in shiny wrapping paper and you can’t stick a bow on top of it. Love transcends the physical world. Love cannot and should not be contained in a box of any kind! When we try to contain love in some type of perimeter we stifle its power.

Look at Paul’s prayer for the Ephesians…

“For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of his riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge – that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.
Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.”
(Ephesians 3:14-21, NIV)

This prayer of Paul’s is an awesome gift in and of itself!

It shows us that we have only begun to understand how much power there is in true love. Paul is praying that we come to understand how wide, long, high and deep Christ’s love for us really is. But, Paul also includes that God “may strengthen” us with “power through his Spirit” and that we are “rooted and established in love”. In other words, Paul is praying we receive the power to love this much! What a truly spectacular gift of prayer!

God wants us to love one another as much as Christ loves us.

This type of love can’t be put into a box or tied up with a bow. Love like this, the love of Christ, can’t even be contained in the depths of hell! How do we expect to wrap it and stick it under the tree? Well, that’s just the point isn’t it? We can’t!

So what about the presents under the tree?

Sure, I know that presents under the tree are a tradition, and I am not saying that we should do away with gifts for Christmas. All I am saying is that the gift of Jesus, the love of God descended on earth to die for our sins is the only perfect gift. God gave of Himself out of love. The best gift we can give is ourselves. Our time, our prayers, our actions are far more valuable and make for a much better gift of love than any of the presents under the tree.

The gift of love can’t be wrapped.

This year instead of allowing ourselves to be consumed by the stress of shopping or trying to find that “perfect” gift to place under the tree why not show God’s type of love. Sure you can still shop if so desired, but in the end please remember that Christmas is not about the gifts under the tree. It’s about the gift of love in Christ Jesus.

Unwrapped, raw, honest, uncontainable love.

The most perfect gift in the world came in the form of the birth of a baby. Christ’s birth in the manger was far from fancy. He wasn’t born in a palace but that’s what makes Him spectacular… Jesus comes to us as a perfect gift for our imperfect lives. He gave of himself, not a fancy wrapped new iPhone, or some big sparkly diamond ring. Christ came to us as love… unwrapped, raw, honest, uncontainable love… a perfect gift for everyone.

Our focus, this Christmas shouldn’t be about the gifts under the tree but showing the love of Christ to all we meet. When was the last time you called someone you love out of the blue just to say “Hi, I love you.”? What about getting up early and making breakfast for your spouse in bed? What about stopping long enough to go sit with grandpa and play a game of chess? Even better yet… What about sharing the Gospel?

So aunt Lulu’s fruitcake recipe isn’t a disaster after all.

She made it with love and that’s what counts. Without love what is the point of giving a gift in the first place? So let’s all quit stressing over what to buy. You can’t buy love anyways. Give the most perfect gift this year to everyone you know and love. Gift them your time, your prayers, your hope, your love, the love of Christ. So make the fruitcake or maybe a batch of cookies instead, and spread the love by giving of yourself.

I pray these words from Paul have inspired you as much as they have me. What ways are you going to show the love of Christ this Christmas? I would love to hear about the gift of love you are giving or have received so please comment below.

Always in Christ’s love,