“It is more blessed to give than receive” – Jesus
I can still recall Christmas 1988, and how special it was that morning as we opened some of our most memorable gifts. I received a beautiful doll that I’ve held onto for all these years, hoping to pass it down to my little girl. My brother got a red BMX bike and my big sister got a new dress. There was an abundance of gifts for us to open that morning. We had a blessed Christmas, not because of the gifts, but because of how the story began… It was a Christmas to Remember!
On December 16, 1988, it was nine days before Christmas, and there were no gifts under the tree. Separated from her husband, and left to provide for three children, my mom’s greatest concerns were keeping food on the table and the electric bill paid so we could stay warm. There wasn’t extra money to purchase gifts for her family. However, her own circumstances didn’t stop her from wanting to give to other families in need that Christmas.
My mom had $20.00 to her name and planned to send part of it to a ministry that provides food for families in need. But as she sent the money, my mom was compelled to give everything she had. Delivering her envelope to the mailbox, her heart was filled with unexplainable joy! She didn’t give out of her own needs, but out of the same love God had shown her when he fulfilled a promise.
This story reminds me of another woman who Jesus witnessed giving everything she had. While the rich men gave out of their abundance, this woman gave only two coins. Although her gift was less than the rich men, Jesus believed she gave more because it was all she had to live on (Luke 21:1-4).
Just three days after my mom posted an envelope with every bit of money she had, she received three checks in the mail on the same day! In one card, a cousin who lived in Florida wrote that she had been in prayer and God impressed her to mail us $200.00. There was also a check from a sales commission and the last check came from an in-law. With just one week until Christmas, my mom received a total of $400.00 and was able to buy gifts for her children. Our Christmas didn’t end there! All the food we would need to have a Christmas dinner was provided by our churches food bank.
This Christmas there are families all over the country and across the globe that would be blessed to have a hot meal at Christmas or a small toy. There are churches and ministries whose offerings are low, but they are still reaching out, even if it means giving everything they have. There are single parents and families who have lost jobs, but in the light of Christmas, still find it in their hearts to give. We can also give to the poor, even when our pocket books are lighter than usual or our cabinets are less than full. We can give not out of necessity for our own families, but out of the same love God showed us when He sent His Son into the world.
When we are like the poor woman who gave more than the rich men and the single mom who put others needs before her own, we put our hope not on earthly things, but in a promise fulfilled to us on the day a baby boy was born in a manger and wrapped in swaddling clothes. He was Messiah, Emmanuel, our Lord and Savior. He brought great joy and peace on earth! His name is Jesus!
This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. John 4:9-11