The Perfect Gift

The Perfect Gift

James 1:17

Introduction

As many know, today is my birthday and thinking back, I have gotten some good gifts, some not so good gifts, and some gifts that I wish were never invented. But, give yourself a second to think of the gifts you have received in your life.

What have you been given that is most precious to you? What have you received from a loved one that has touched your heart in a manner that you can never forget? Got it?

Now, read with me to James 1:17

Pray

Remember that perfect gift I asked you to think about, well, in thinking about perfect gifts I believe there are certain characteristics that we all share which make a gift “perfect”. If you asked me, I would say some perfect gifts would include:

It would be given to honor and lift the Lord up

It would be given to bless the receiver and not yourself

It would be given out of a genuine love for one another

It would not be given selfishly or to get something in return

It would be perfect in all situations, including fashion trends and fluctuations

The gift would have to last forever, to really be perfect

It might even be something that could never be given again - perhaps something priceless

In all honesty, there is only one gift that could be given to fit all these situations, and that is the gift from God of His Son, Jesus Christ.

We have been studying in our evening services the book of Ephesians, and God speaks very clearly about His gift of grace that has been given to us today, and all we have to do is accept it.

Eph 2:8 says “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God”

When God gave us this gift of His son, it was given with the understanding that He loved us more than words could describe, and because He wanted us to understand what it means to have the proper motivation in Him.

1 John 4:10 says “This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.”

God’s reason for giving this gift was out of love, and nothing more. Today, have you given the gift of love to someone else? Has it been given to someone else that you love so much?

Let’s talk about love for a minute and giving God’s gift of love through forgiveness.

It does not have to just be salvation, but it can be extending the eternal grace of God to your fellow man and woman. For example, if you are guilty of backstabbing, gossip, or other unclean words about another - you are not giving or practicing the gift of God’s love towards one another.

It is a simple practice when you think of it -- to express external love towards another without keeping score, after all, didn’t God forgive you of your transgressions and sins when you asked Him? Of course He did!

Psalm 103:11-12 says “For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.”

Today, you have been forgiven of your sins -- so why do we practice sinning against another? Remember that Jesus has told us to forgive your brother of his sins 7 times 70 …

This is merely one example of giving the gift of God’s love to another -- and I am sure we can all think of hundreds of other ways to glorify the Father by practicing what He preached to us.

God’s motivation of giving us His Son was out of pure love, pure love for you and I, and we would do best to remember that in everything that we say, everything we do, even whatever we eat and drink ought to be done to glorify God. This is the true practice of obedience to God.

We needed a Savior because we were so filthy and full of sin, and God saw that. Yet, the Christian body pays the Lord back by getting saved, and then continuing to snub our noses up at people because we have been angered, or talking bad about others (even pastors) because everything does not their way.

It is this VERY act that is tearing churches apart today, and it is time we stand up, and recognize that this can no longer go on. If we allow it to go on, we are guilty of being two-faced, plain and simple. God sent His Son as a perfect gift so that we would not have to live in destruction amongst ourselves -- and we ought to live like it.