If there is any tradition to make you realize how much you want and how little you have to give, it is giving gifts for Christmas.
In college, I loved to buy gifts for my friends. I would usually purchase something (or a collection of things) that reminded me of a shared experience, or memory, or inside joke. It was never a question of if I would buy a gift, but what -- and that was the fun part.
Now my cursor hovers above the “buy now” button on my Amazon cart and my hand wavers as I hand the cashier my card. The gifts I buy each year seem lame and foolish. It is difficult to decide what gift to give to the people I love and it is challenging to find anything of value. The things I can afford are not anything they really need.
Will this gift just be forgotten two months later? This gift is surely not the thing they most desire. So, I increase the gift budget just a little bit. Maybe the slightly more expensive gift will be better. All the while I am disappointed in what I have to give and hope I don’t receive something too nice in turn.
Have you experienced this gift-giving dread? Have you experienced the doubt and disappointment of a measly gift budget? Or maybe, you can spend more on gifts, but you get anxious about finding the perfect gift.
When I consider simplicity in gift-giving, I must first remember my own human (and financial) limitations. My budget will only allow me to buy certain things. These gifts will probably not be a costly item that will make my family or friend’s lives better or easier. It will surely not be the one thing they’ve been hoping for.
So, what is gift-giving for?
Like the manger in our passage last week, gift-giving is but a sign to point us to the ultimate Gift Giver. In Jesus, we have the ultimate gift that no gift budget can buy. So, simplicity comes when we let ourselves off the hook for giving the best gift. The gift of most value is already ours to receive.
Instead, the gifts we share with one another are but a sign of our care and love for the people in our lives, not the love itself. We get to imitate God by giving (reasonably) good, undeserved gifts to the people we love. Whatever gift you give or make can be something that relates the joy, beauty, and love you have for the person receiving the gift.
In the comments below, share your experience with gift-giving. How might practicing simplicity help you have a different attitude toward gift giving?
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