Gifted

What are the gifts you received lately or gave to someone? Whether giving or receiving, heartfelt gifts make us happy. In exchanging one another’s, what value do we anticipate and appreciate on earth?

From our childhood memories to the latest family or work-related events, the year-end is the season making us busy preparing, giving, and receiving various gifts.

For example, Christmas gifts come in all shapes and sizes and can be a perfect way to show someone how much you care. People exchange traditional gifts, such as clothing, books, toys, and food, during the holiday season.

Why do these things make us joyful? More than the material aspects, we feel and experience how much we care about others, likewise, how much they care about us. The gifts are not only a sign of gratitude, but more of one another’s care, like genuine smiles. If someone greets you with a smile, you can feel like you received a special gift. If you smile, you sense you gave yours back.

Gifts, like unconditional love, are what we give to someone without expecting anything in return. These can be in many forms, such as clothing, food, and jewelry. We offer or receive them to celebrate birthdays, anniversaries, weddings, graduations, holidays, and other special occasions.

However, their essential part should be intangible, like memories, stories, experiences, or expressions of love and admiration. Ironically, we can understand their substantial, crucial value beyond the surface through this intangibility.

Do you feel the care of others through the material surface of their gifts? Do you believe the more expensive the items are, the more respect you receive? In other words, can you measure the magnitude of care on the material aspects of the exchange?

This perspective makes us blind. We become spiritually blind. We need to open our spiritual eyes to God’s healing and love.

And Jesus said, For judgment I am come into this world, that they which see not might see; and that they which see might be made blind.

John 9:39

It is not the gifts that make us understand one’s care, even His. It should be the other way around. Our care and His, if humbly genuine, make us realize that the true gifts are everywhere and from above.

Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.

James 1:17

We can only count blessings once we open our spiritual eyes to understand where they are. Gifts are everywhere, and their blessings are anywhere, as God is omnipresent and omnipotent, and He loves us unconditionally.

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

John 3:16

We hear the news about those gifted children if their talents are outstanding on earth as if they are the expensive, rare gifts God favorably gave to their parents. Are they lucky? Are they God favored? Are others not? God forbid.

The material aspects of any gifts are an illusory shadow to make us blind, either becoming arrogant or self-pity, deceptively believing God’s favoritism through the material aspects of what we call gifted.

We’re all His gifts. And we are supposed to act like His gifts. Who are His gifted children? We are all gifted. Is he gifted? Do you envy him? Is she talented? Do you admire her? Fine. But then, let us never forget the truth that we are all gifted and talented unexceptionally.

We always see the gifts from our earthly perspective. That’s why we deceptively believe those with the “best” gifts and talents could be God-favorable. The truth is the opposite.

For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent. Where is the wise? where is the scribe? where is the disputer of this world? hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom: But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumblingblock, and unto the Greeks foolishness;

1 Corinthians 1:19-23

The splendid worldly gifts make us spiritually blind. We mistakenly seek the sign and wisdom in the earthly magnitude of the gifted talents, which are always full of ourselves and self-indulgence.

Forget if we are worldly gifted or not. Our selfless eyes, poor in spirit, alone could be the gate for the blessings.

Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Matthew 5:3

Let’s not seek false gifts. Only then can we realize that true gifts are abundantly everywhere when and if we care and love one another.

No man hath seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us.

1 John 4:12

We didn’t know this truth as we were spiritually blind. God is everywhere and within as we are all His unique gifts unexceptionally from our eyes opened. We all know who the gifted are.

In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.

2 Corinthians 4:4

Image by Kari Shea