please regift

Regift (v) - The act of taking a gift that has been received and giving it to someone else.

 

Have you ever heard a sermon on regifting?  I did… yesterday.  In fact, my pastor encouraged it!  Actually, he went so far as to suggest that God wants me to regift!

 

Let me explain…

 

Through December, my pastor has been preaching a Sunday morning series titled “the Gifts of Christmas”.  Each Sunday morning, there is a shiny wrapped package on the platform.  When he opens the package, there is something in it to illustrate the particular gift he is speaking about that day.  I especially liked and resonated with yesterday’s gift.

 

When he untied the large bow and removed the top of the package, he pulled out a second gift box, wrapped identical to the first.  His message was “Grace… the gift that keeps on giving”.  The main idea of his message was that if we have received grace from God, then we should pass that grace on to others.

 

Grace is a topic that has piqued my interest over the past years... both the grace that God has extended to me in the form of salvation through faith in His Son, Jesus Christ; and, the grace I, and my fellow humans, extend (or not) to each other.  This was a fresh and welcomed perspective on the subject.

 

He used the image of the gift-within-a-gift as a visual illustration, removing the inner gift and walking through the auditorium with the still-wrapped package extended in his hands, so that when others see him coming, they first see the gift of grace extended toward them.  He challenged us with the question, "Will you be perceived as a 'gift' to all those who come in contact with you?"

 

Convicting, to be sure!

 

I've had plenty of opportunities to extend grace to others over the course of my lifetime.  Sadly, I've often blown those opportunities.  I think the most missed opportunities occur within my own four walls... toward the family I love.  I'm learning, though, and I'd like to think I'm improving.  I've recently had some sizable tests of my grace extension.  I'm quite sure it is still a mix of pass and fail, but I hope those who have witnessed this testing would at least grade me as "showing improvement".

 

One thing to clarify about grace, though... grace is not being a doormat.  There are times when we need to hold others accountable for their decisions and actions.  There are times for judgement, justice and reckoning.  Even that, though, can often be handled graciously... especially if there is evidence of genuine remorse or a desire to right wrongs.

 

So, as I ponder, this Christmas season, some of the gifts I've received from the hand of God, I am truly thankful for God's grace.  But, perhaps I should work on doing a little more regifting.  I'm sure the giver would not be offended... in fact, He gives with instructions to "please regift"!