It is the gift giving season, what’s it all about?

Ephesians 2:8-9 “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.
Acts 20:35 “ I have shone you in every way,by laboring like this, that you must support the weak. And remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that He said, “ “ It is more blessed to give than receive”.

If we as believers in Jesus Christ decide to give a gift to someone it should be given without any strings attached; out of love and not for anything in return. A gift given to some one in exchange for something they did for you is a bonus for that person, or something extra for their labor. It is not a gift. Gifts given by a believer should never be given for something in return. A gift given because you have received a gift and not because you truly want to give one, is given in vain and no glory is in it. If believers’ give a gift without love what good is it. If you give something to make yourself feel good it is the wrong reason to give. We as believers can only give what we have and if you are charging a gift without any idea how or when you will repay the debt, you did not give anything, the bank did. You have put your name on someone else’s gift and are taking the reward for something that you did not do. If we boast about any gift we gave, that will be our reward. The only people that can talk about what you gave them is the one that received it. We should always give and let the receiver decide if anyone should be glorified. When God gave us the gift of His Son It certainly was not because we deserved it. But because he loved us. We as believers will tell our children if you be good I will reward you with a gift. God has given us a gift when we were at our worst. We can never say we were good enough for it, we did enough good works to deserve it. We cannot say I am not worthy to accept that gift, because it is given by grace and it cannot be bought, it cannot be earned. A gift given by anyone believer or not is only good if it is received and used. We receive Gods gift by faith and we will use them by faith. Jesus has paid the price for the gifts and it is our choice to accept it or not. We can only give what we have, so always be as honest and truthful with your giving as you can.