Thursday, December 15, 2011

The best gift

Every good and perfect gift is from above (James 1:17).

Shopping has become the Great American Pastime. Our national economy rises and falls based on how much consumers are willing to spend. Shoppers brag about the good deals they’ve gotten, as if buying stuff is some form of competition. Bargain hunters spend hours clipping coupons or searching out the best deal. Going shopping has become just as popular a way to spend time as playing games, going out for dinner, or taking in a movie.

To be sure, getting new things is fun. But most of us have to live on limited resources; most of us have to plan for retirement. When you use shopping as a way to have fun, you put your financial stability at risk. Advertisers are experts of manipulation; they know how to make a product so attractive that you feel as if you have to buy it, regardless of your bank balance.

At this time of year, the problem is compounded by love and guilt. We have been raised to believe that in order to show love, you have to spend money—money on gifts, money on parties, money on travel. And if you can’t spend as much on friends and family as you did last year, you start feeling guilty. Love and guilt can push you into making purchases that you really can’t afford.

Christmas is a holiday that has become massively abused by corporate America. Yet Christmas also points us to a different way to think about money, love, and gift giving. On the very first Christmas, God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life (John 3:16). The shepherds brought no gifts. When the Wise Men showed up, they gave their gifts to the Lord, not to each other. There was no dinner party; Mary and Joseph and their guests were in a stable, their attention focused on worshipping the Son of God who came down to earth to save us from our sins. There in Bethlehem, the focus was on one thing only—love.

There is no better gift than love, because love draws God and man, woman, and child all together in perfect happiness. You can’t find that kind of happiness by going shopping. No amount of money can ever purchase love.

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