A Gift of Gratitude

The Manger King 
Terry R. Baughman

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16 NKJ).

Love is the prime motivation for giving. Every sacrifice is justified when we give out of an abundance of love. That is why the season of Thanksgiving and Christmas is filled with so much joy. We are reminded of our blessings and in response to our gratitude we give to those we love and to causes that touch our hearts. 

There may be other reasons to give as well. Sometimes we are moved to share our resources because of pity towards those less fortunate. We may even feel some guilt for our many blessings and we give to others who have great needs to help assuage the feeling. There may be other occasions where our friends are giving to a good cause and we feel pressured to join in with a contribution just to show support to something a friend is passionate about. 

The least charitable gift is when we give because of an incentive. Perhaps we are entered into a drawing for something we would love to have, in return for making a small financial contribution. This could be a “raffle contribution.” Some may make “end of year” contributions for the tax advantage, thinking they would rather give to a good cause than to give it to the government.

We might give just because it feels good to give. That is a natural response to giving, especially when we are motivated by love. So, even if it’s for the dopamine stimulus, we are blessed by giving! 

Love was the prime mover of God’s provision. As John’s Gospel stated, “God so loved … that He gave” (John 3:16). The full display of God’s love is revealed in His incarnation. God became flesh and lived with us! (See John 1:14.) His life, death, burial, and resurrection testify of the depth of His love for us. His desire was to make us His children, son’s and daughter’s of God. John wrote, “Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God!” (1 John 3:1 NKJ).

The greatest motivator for true giving is pure love. This is giving without expecting anything in return. It is self-less and open-handed giving. That’s the way God gives to us. 

God’s greatest gift was the gift of His Son. He willing gave Himself to this world. Paul wrote, “God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself” (2 Corinthians 5:19 NKJ). Though we were sinners, Christ died for us. He offers us all the gift of salvation. Paul said, “The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23 NKJ). He also wrote, “By grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God” (Ephesians 2:8 NKJ).
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Knowing how great a gift we have received, we should also extend the good news of God’s love to all. Let our thanksgiving be shared as a gift of gratitude to everyone we meet! 


Theme passage:
“There is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger” (Luke 2:11-12 NKJ).