We don’t realize it when we are young, but we will spend our lifetime developing our sense of what truly has value.
Let’s think about Christmas gifts for a moment (after all, there are only 86 days until Christmas). The best Christmas gifts I ever received were a flashlight (I was caught more than once prowling around the house in the wee hours just so I could use it . . . until the batteries died) and a REAL toolbox with tools including a hammer, saw, mitre box, clamps, etc. No piece of wood within a 100 metres of the house was safe. The Christmas gifts I didn’t really value were those lovingly and skillfully made by my grandmas. Quilts, doilies, and other hand crafts were not nearly as exiting as a hand drill and piece of scrap wood. Thankfully, I still have - and now deeply value - the handicraft from those Christmases long ago. If only they could tell stories of the lives those ladies lived!
Careful, well-planned and well-crafted gifts speak from the heart. Now, many years later, I realize just how much my grandmas were saying, “I love you.” Multiply that by the number of grandchildren who also received quilts and doilies . . . that’s a lot of love.
Our heavenly Father is a giver of good gifts. After all, doesn’t James 1:17 say, “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.” In the context, James is talking about resisting temptation, especially when under pressure created by the trials of life. He doesn’t elaborate what the “gifts” are. He simply says God is the source of that which is good (understanding “good” to mean “that which has value, is beneficial” - not necessarily pleasant).
There are other texts that describe some of the good gifts God gives us. I love this one:
He who finds a wife finds a good thing
and obtains favour from the LORD. (Prov. 18:22 ESV)
Here is one that may surprise you . . . when a discussion of “God giving gifts” comes up, it will often focus the debate about the “what” of “Spiritual gifts.” What is speaking in tongues? What is prophecy? These are important questions, but they distract us from the larger issue: God “gifts” people so they can serve one another, learn together, encourage one another, and provide a safe place for sharing life’s hardships and disappointments. The bigger “WHAT” of God’s gifts is actually a “WHY. Why does the Spirit of God unite us into one Body and provide His Body with what it needs to be transformed and mature in righteous living (Eph 4)? If we see past the debates of Paul’s language in 1 Corinthians 12, we can focus on an equally important issue, and this is the surprise: all the other people with whom we gather regularly are flesh-and-bones gifts from God to us.
This is seriously important. One of the functions of The Body - and subsequently, of a body - is to
nurture that safe environment where we can provide the mutual support we all need. The process of “growing in grace and the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 3:18) is not easy. The Apostle Paul used metaphors of soldiers, athletes, and farmers to describe the kind of discipline and rigour needed to be a follower of Jesus. It is even more difficult if we attempt to do it in isolation - even if we are “going to church” on a regular basis.
When we gather as the Body of Christ, we are gifting one another a bit of the grace of God that has been at work within us. Simple acts of kindness, listening to one another, even a passing comment can be used by God to encourage someone else. The pursuit of that which is righteous, good, and of Kingdom value can leave us exhausted. Uniting our voices in song, our hearts in prayer, and our minds in learning helps us hit the “refresh and reset” button of our souls.
Gathering together - collectively on a Sunday or during the week as friends - is a gift from the heart of God to each one of our own hearts. The next time you find yourself with a fellow disciple of Jesus, tell yourself “In this moment I am receiving a gift of God’s grace.”
It takes a lifetime to learn to appreciate the truly valuable gifts we receive in life. Given that God is God, surely each of us is a careful, well-planed gift from Him to one another.
