God's Indescribable Gift – A Gift Worth Giving Series

4. THE PRACTICAL GIFT. What’s a practical gift? These are the gifts that meet needs. If you have kids then you know what a practical gift is. The kids have outgrown last year’s winter coat or boots so they find new ones under the tree for this year. Perhaps your cloths aren’t fitting the way they used to or they are getting a little worn from use so you find some new things for yourself to wrap up for your self. Guys a word of caution! Before you give your wife a new crock pot or other gadget for the kitchen that will really benefit the whole family be sure she will be okay with it; be sure of what she sees as a need before you try to meet it for her.

5. THE LOVE GIFT. The love gift is the expression of the heart. The love gift is the gift that brings you the most joy in giving. Some gifts are given just to say, “I love you.” The value of a love gift goes far beyond the price tag; the sentimental value adds to the significance and worth of the gift exponentially. For instance at our harvest party bags of candy were prepared for all of the kids, but somehow some of that candy found its way into my top desk drawer (and it just happened to be my favorite kinds). The value of that candy was far greater than just the couple of dollars it cost to buy it from the store; it was an expression of love from those working behind the scenes to make it a great party for the kids—they even included this big kid!

Love gifts don’t always have to be material things; you don’t have to run down to the local store to buy something to give an expression of your love. Some of the best love gifts are not things!

Sometimes a love gift is simply a gift of your time; it may be time as a “togetherness gift.” Over the last few days I’ve taken extra time off from being in my office to spend time with Chrysta; it’s a love gift. And if you think I went to the store Friday because I wanted to find a bargain you have missed the gift I gave to Susie; being with her was my gift to her (and breakfast was her gift to me).

We can also give our time through acts of kindness or service to others. John Maxwell tells the story about a man named Brent who said, “Pastor, I think you need me . . . would it be alright if I came to your office about once a week and the secretary could just give me a list of errands that I could do for you? And I’d like to give you an afternoon once a week of my life.” For the next seven years Brent washed cars, ran to the dry cleaners and did all kinds of simple acts of service to help his pastor. Rich gave me such a gift. One Saturday evening he took his time to go to the store to get some recordable CD’s so I wouldn’t have to—it was a love gift. Tiffani is also giving the gift of her time and talents to serve the church by doing our bulletin and bookkeeping, but it is really serving me because if she didn’t do it then I would have to do it. Likewise others are giving gifts of love; gift worth far more than anything money can buy. These are love gifts.

6. THE GRACE GIFT. The grace gift is the greatest expression of the love gift. The giving of a grace gift is always non-tangible. Grace gifts are not things; grace gifts are the extension of God’s love in and through our lives. Grace gifts are the giving of forgiveness, compassion and mercy. The cost of a grace gift is impossible to measure, because the grace gift can only be given by laying down one’s life, by setting aside your rights.