Be A Cheerful Giver, & A Cheerful Receiver
Word-Of-The-Day: ‘For if the willingness is there, the gift is acceptable according to what one has, not according to what one does not have.’ (2 Corinthian 8:12)
In 2 Corinthians 9:7, it says one should always be a cheerful giver. I often tell folks when I surprise them with a gift, that I am willing and able; if I lose either attribute then I would not longer give. The same applies to receiving; to be a cheerful giver, one must also be a willing (and cheerful) receiver. Sometimes, especially when they first start out, we may chastise our kids when they go buy us a gift that appears to be expensive, as we don’t want them to sacrifice their needs to give us something.
We have learned, however, that they want to give us gifts out of love and not out of compulsion or need. So, we graciously accept their gifts knowing it is them expressing love to us. I was both pleasantly surprised while inwardly concerned when my daughter sent me a ‘zero-gravity’ folding chair for sitting around the firepit; I love it as it reclines from a sitting position into supine with ease, but I pray she didn’t spend too much on it (and no, I’m not going to look up the price – no need for a cardiac arrest over a chair).
The best gifts are those given from the heart, in love; they should be received from the heart, in love, as well (like the chair). Our daughter-in-law, for example, bought a key-lime pie for me last Thanksgiving, knowing I love key-lime pie. It didn’t matter that it was from the grocery store, what mattered was that she thought enough of me to get it. If you’re putting a dollar value on the gifts you get, you need to rethink your criteria for being a cheerful receiver. What you should look for is the love, thought and caring that is behind the gift.
The best gift of all time is Jesus! Think of the thought behind the Gift; His Gift of Jesus is priceless, as it is Everything. If you want to examine the love God has for us, understand that He thought enough of us to give His only begotten Son Jesus up as the Ultimate Sacrifice so we could gain everlasting life. God is willing and able to do so! It is not the Gift that will enrich us with wealth, but Jesus is the most enriching Gift of all. Jesus is the Gift of the heart, and was given joyfully to us. We in turn need to be willing to receive and accept Him as our Lord, cheerfully and joyfully.
