As the holiday season passes, many parents and grandparents will begin to look at their budgets and see that they spent more than they originally planned.
Extravagant giving can lead to buyer’s remorse and sometimes it leads to many retail returns.
However, there’s a way to insure guilt-free giving. That is to gift THE GIFT!
Each of us were born with a God-deposited gift mix! We all have talents and skills and interests that God purposed us to have.
The goal to gift-giving is to prayerfully consider what physical gift aligns with an individual’s spiritual gift or natural talent/interest given by God. You may even want to keep notes regarding your closest family and friends regarding their gifts and interests.
I am always amazed at out oldest child’s gift requests. Our 11-year-old always seems to request housewares! She has an unwavering interest in cooking and asked for a standing mixer this year! Her favorite gift last year was an apron filled with cooking utensils.
As she expresses a desire to become a chef, we had no regrets on gifting THE GIFT!
Our youngest daughter is 10 and didn’t ask for any big gift specifically. She loves singing and drawing, so all of her gifts were tools that encouraged that talent.
Her favorite gift was the video game for “THE VOICE” which came with a microphone she does not want to put down! Additionally, she talks often about wanting to be a missionary and she wanted to buy blankets to handout to the homeless who are out on the street.
Again, there were no regrets with those purchases because with intentionality we were gifting THE GIFT!
2 Timothy 1:6 states “ …stir up the gift of God, which is in you!” I believe with our girls, we gave gifts that stirred THE GIFT of God in them.
As for our youngest and only son, Christmas was his birthday, so he was just as interested in indoor activity play spaces as gifts. We are still in a journey of discovery of how to best gift his GIFTS!
As we continue to celebrate this season, I am not saying that our kids aren’t also walking around with new electronic devices and headphones! They have the best Grandmothers in the world for that! However, our goal is to stay focused on splurging on gifts that STIR their God-given gifts.
As you plan for 2015, you will be inevitably be faced with opportunities to purchase gifts for special occasions. Let this article encourage you to reflect and gift THE GIFT of God in a person. That insures guilt-free giving!