The Gift of Giving

Have you ever noticed that when you give of yourself or give a gift from the heart, you, the giver, benefit?

Today, we finished wrapping up more shoe boxes for Operation Christmas Child. Munchkin joyfully wrote letters to include in each of the shoe boxes hoping that just maybe she’ll get a response from one of the recipients. She would think about how the child would feel about each of the items placed in the boxes. Just like with regular gifts, we took the extra care to place tissue paper in the box around the items to make everything look just a little more special.

This year, we made our donation online to pay for the shipping of the shoe boxes as Munchkin thought the idea of knowing where her gifts were going would be cool. When you make your donation online, you print out labels with barcodes so you can receive information about your shoe boxes.

Our hearts were lifted as we delivered the boxes to the church.  We walked away with the knowledge that we are helping, at least in a small way, to brighten a child’s Christmas.  In the big scheme of things, it’s not something huge, but it’s something.

We’re not all called to give in the same way.  Some people are called to help by traveling to other countries, by starting/building schools and hospitals, by sponsering a child, by raising funds, by…  As long as we are listening to the Lord, we will be blessed.

Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. ~2 Corinthians 9:7

We do not give to get a pat on the back, recognition, or something in return.  We give because the God wants us to be cheerful givers.  It is my responsibility to Munchkin to lead her down this path.

I am thankful to God and Jesus for giving us the example of how to be a cheerful giver.  We benefit from the Ultimate Gift of love and sacrifice, our eternal salvation.