Inspirational Article From Joanne Lowe Index of Writings by Joanne Lowe on Gospel Web

THE BEST GIFT

“And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense, and myrrh.”

Matthew 2: 11 King James Version

I read this headline in my local newspaper yesterday “The best gift might be found downtown.” We can look downtown, uptown and all over the world but the best gift is unconditional love and it comes from our hearts. We aren’t born with this kind of love because our love is a selfish love.

It is only as we allow Jesus to melt our hardened hearts so that He can fill them with unconditional love that we are able to love others as He has commanded us to love them. I think that sometimes we forget that loving others unconditionally is not an option for us; it is a commandment from our Saviour.

Our precious Saviour out of a heart filled with unconditional love, forgiveness, mercy and grace allowed them to crucify Him on a cross of horror and agony. There is no greater gift that we can give to our families, to our loved ones and to a world that is desperate for somebody to care about them than to love them with unconditional love as Jesus loves us.

Christmas is next month and many people are already buying expensive gifts and spending so much money that it will take them a long time to pay off the credit cards. There is nothing wrong with buying expensive gifts if we can afford it. However when we give gifts to our loved ones, the gift should first come from our hearts and not from our purses or wallets.

Two years ago someone emailed me who was unemployed due to medical conditions and the person told me that it would be very helpful if people would buy groceries for them instead of buying Christmas gifts. This person said “I know I won’t have money to buy my children gifts and I have cried a lot because of this but what really hurts me and breaks my heart is that I won’t have enough money to buy groceries for a nice Christmas dinner for my children.” I cried when I read that email. Oh dear people, let’s make sure that everyone we know has enough food to eat every day, not just on Christmas.

Yes, our dear Saviour gave us the best gift that He had; He gave us His unconditional love and forgiveness and He died for us. May all of us allow Jesus to plant unconditional love deep in our hearts so that we will love each other unconditionally as He loves us. When you are buying gifts for your loved ones, don’t forget to give them the best gift of all, love that comes from your heart. Remember that Christmas is the celebration of the birth of the Christ Child. May we be found faithful in giving love to the One who gave His all for us.

Joanne Lowe

November 16, 2007

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