Gift Giving

I’ve never been one to accept gifts easily. It probably goes right along with my tendency to refuse to ask for help. Something inside tells me that I am not worthy of the gift, or that I should have an equally nice gift to exchange with the other person. On Gary Chapman’s list of 5 love languages, gift giving is not mine. It also follows that I am not much of a gift-giver. If you’ve ever gotten a gift from me that you just thought was perfect, Misha probably picked it out.

So you can imagine that this time of year challenges this tendency of mine to balk at receiving gifts. I have been getting better as the years go on, especially since Misha’s family is really good at giving you exactly what you want or need. And they love to do it. After years of practice, I’ve been getting better at showing outwardly the gratitude I feel on the inside. Rather than awkwardly squeaking out a “thanks” and turning to run the other way, I’ve learned to openly enjoy the gift and adequately express my gratitude right there in front of the person. I still have twinges of guilt, though, when I haven’t thought to get that person a gift, or when all I have to offer is a gift that pales in comparison with the one I’ve just received.

I find myself in that situation quite a lot at BBC. It seems a regular occurrence for someone to offer a gift to me when I have little or nothing to give in return. And I’m not just talking about the tangible gifts of material things, although that happens often. As I pray with my kids before bed, I thank God for people who we love and who love us so well. I think maybe Paul felt this way about the Philippians when he said in Philippians 1:3-5, I thank my God with every remembrance of you, always offering prayer with joy in my every prayer for you all, in view of your participation in the gospel from the first day until now.

That’s what it’s all about, isn’t it? We give because we have received. God has given us such a great gift that we can’t help but share that gift with other people. And because people delight in giving us good gifts out of the overflow of their love for us, just like God does, we receive their grace whether or not we have anything to offer in return. In doing this, we act out on a very small scale our relationship with God, except with Him, we only have to offer what He’s already given us.

So I want to thank my church family for the tangible gifts of stuff and the intangible gifts of love and service, neither of which I will ever be able to repay. And, thanks be to God for His indescribable gift. (II Cor. 9:15)