The Gift of YOU

A month before my wedding, I had a bridal shower. It was a wonderful event where surrounded by my closest friends, I was reminded of God’s rich blessings in my life. It was fun too. We played games, laughed and ate. Well, my guests ate, while I was a little too excited to. As my beautiful Masters of Ceremony Chomba and Tiwonge concluded the program, they saw it fit to allow me to open a few of my gifts. While my primary love language is not receiving gifts, I felt so loved that day. So seen and so incredibly covered as I prepared to take the ground-breaking step of saying “I do” to my fyonse (translated everything), I mean fiancé, Ceaser. I didn’t get a chance to open all my gifts before the shower had ended and as I greeted and thanked guests, my friends took every gift, some opened and many yet to be unwrapped, into my bedroom. Once the tear-down was complete, leftover food was packed away and every guest had left, there were only two things on my mind; a nice hot bath and opening the rest of my gifts with my sister.

Baths behind us, pyjamas on and leftover finger food in front of us, my sister and I began to open presents and read out the different nuggets of marriage advice each guest had written on small cards I had provided in the invitation. I still have those cards today. On one of them is written, “Fight naked,” a piece of advice I have yet to take on. Back to the gifts. I received more than I needed to begin my new home and once everything had been opened and laid on my bed and the floor of my adolescent bedroom floor, I picked up a few items and set them aside. My sister asked me what I was doing to which I replied, “Picking what I am giving away.” These items were a hot air popcorn popper, a dinner plate set, and a pot set. You see, for the longest time, my mum had been talking about how badly she wanted a popcorn popper and the minute I opened that gift I knew it was not mine to keep. I took the items to the kitchen where I found my mom making some tea and I gave her the popcorn maker. She looked confused and asked me why I was giving her the handy machine when I love popcorn just as much as she does. I told her that I had the rest of my life to get a popcorn maker for myself and that I was so grateful for her throwing me a bridal shower that it was my honour to give this one to her. The dinner set I had sent to Chipata for my granny and the pot set I gave my mom’s house helper. It was easy for me to give those gifts as I felt led to because they had just as easily been given to me on my special day.

“Thanks be to God for his inexpressible gift!” ~ 2 Corinthians 9:15 (ESV)

“For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” ~ Romans 6:23 (ESV)

“You must continually bring healing to lepers and to those who are sick and make it your habit to break off the demonic presence from people and raise the dead back to life. Freely you have received the power of the kingdom, so freely release it to others.” ~ Matthew 10:8 (TPT)

Christmas is six days away and as always, when this time rolls around, my mind is swirling with the idea of gifts. Gifts I have to get my loved ones, gifts I hope I receive, the immeasurable gift of Christ from God and how I am going to make sure I reiterate to my children that He is truly the real reason for the season. As we countdown to Christmas I would like to remind you to give people the gift of YOU. Yes, cook the meals, write the cards and buy the gifts, as you do this, remember that the real gift worth giving is yourself. As you continue to discover who you are in Christ, allow others to experience God’s love by experiencing YOU. Here, let me explain by using an acronym for the word you. I hope it not only encourages you but also challenges you to dig deeper, beyond just your wallet, into your heart so that as people feel your love, they are pointed to our Lord and Saviour, Christ Jesus.

Give YOUR TIME

I’ve heard it said that time is money. I’m not sure if that’s true or not, what I am sure about is that time is an invaluable and irreplaceable asset. When we offer our time to spend with people, they feel seen and heard, not just by you but also by God. Loneliness is heightened during the festive season. When families spend time together, many travelling for that sole purpose, it’s difficult not to feel unseen if you are without close family or friends. Allow God to minister His love through you by taking the time to truly see and hear people. Your time is a gift that if shared wholeheartedly, can heal the heart wounds of others. Use it wisely. Use is godly.

Give OBEDIENCE TO GOD

I know it’s hard to imagine our obedience to God can be a gift to someone else. The truth is that everything we do in this life is about more than just ourselves. When we are obedient we show an example of a surrendered life to God. More than that though, when God knows He can trust us with things, He begins to give us people. Our obedience to His prompting will determine how we treat those people. This means that our disobedience has a direct negative impact on people. Yes, God will eventually entrust that person to someone else, but our disobedience would have delayed the process. Have you ever thought about that? When you pray to God, most of the time His eyes then run to and fro throughout the whole earth, looking to give strong support to those whose heart is blameless toward Him. That support has to come from other believers who are yielded and obedient to His prompting to come to your aid. It may be a text, a call, a cake, a prayer, whatever way the Lord may lead you concerning others, be obedient so that they may know the love of the Father.

Give UNDERSTANDING

There is nothing worse than feeling misunderstood. Not to me anyway. We all have the desire to feel understood and when we don’t, we can feel anxious, unseen and even trapped. To understand another is to be sympathetically aware of their feelings; tolerant and forgiving. The festive season is a wonderful opportunity to spend time with our loved ones, however, when everyone is together there are increased chances of rubbing each other the wrong way. Give your loved ones the gift of your understanding. Listen more and speak less, cut everyone a little more slack and if they do mess up, be quick to forgive. This will not only make your interactions more enjoyable, but they will also create an environment of grace when you say or do the wrong thing. Yes, you’re human too and you are bound to slip up so take the lead by being more understanding and when your turn rolls around, your loved ones may be more inclined to do the same for you.

God gave of Himself when He sent us His only Son, true giving reflects this. So whatever you do this festive season, lace it with YOU. Allow yourself to enjoy those around you and when it’s all said and done, may your cup be full and overflowing with love, peace and joy. Merry Christmas!