The Christmas Season is in full swing. A time of year where everyone is focused on gifts. From the mystery surrounding what awaits you under that glorious green tree to the chance at making a loved one smile with your own generosity, gifts are a predominate part of Christmas.
When we are younger, we are more concerned with what gifts will be given to us.
What am I going to get this year? What did my rich uncle send? I really hope my great aunt didn't send socks again...I mean really, of all the things in the world you thought a ten year old boy with a taste for Legos, the Super Nintendo, and basketball would need...you chose socks. Way to go. The relative of the year award clearly goes to you.
Hopefully, as you grow older you start to focus less on what you're going to get and more on what you're going to give. It feels like the natural progression toward maturity and wisdom. Don't get me wrong, it's still nice to receive from family and see exactly how much people care about you. One of the ways we know people love us is by their level of generosity toward our well-being. We are more prone toward helping the brother who has been there all our life than a stranger we just met at a chance encounter on the bus or at a friend's Christmas party. You're allowed to care more about your brother than the crazy person with a bushy mustache that kept asking over and over again if you wanted a candy cane for five dollars.
I personally have never been all too festive around any holiday. I like Christmas. I think it's a Great time of year, but there's always been this stigma surrounding the holiday that generosity and cheer only exist during December and I never really bought into that. Regardless, I can't help but get around the fact that this year it's different. I cannot help but get into the Christmas spirit.
A part of what makes Christmas so special is watching what everyone chooses to give of themselves for others. A major part of gifts is actual giving and that's where the magic of Christmas truly exists. Many people probably look at the Christmas story and see the Magi giving gifts to baby Jesus and that's where we make our connection for giving around this season. The problem is, their gifts were not the point. It was God's gift to humanity, wrapped in cloth and lying in a trough. Jesus was the gift.
God gave a part of himself in order for us to find our own lives. He took on the world's burdens for the sake of our freedom. He gave...he gives.
Jesus' story did not start with his miraculous birth nor did it end there. There is a central narrative that exists throughout human history that is always building toward something and with great purpose. Jesus was born so that you and I may see how to live and he died to show us what we may have to sacrifice in order to step into and craft our own destinies.
The season to give is always. It never stops. Look around. It's not difficult to find a need that must be met. People are hurting, hungry, and hoping everywhere. You do not have to ship off to Africa to find someone in need.
I have a challenge to all who may read this, whether you share my beliefs or not you have to acknowledge that the Earth is filled with pain, suffering, and people in desperate need of help. It's easy to turn away and focus on ourselves. It's easy to close your eyes and plug your ears, but what's not easy is avoiding your heart. I believe that compassion exists in every human. We may not see it but it's there, waiting for us to tap into. It's a scary emotion that demands action.
My challenge is simple. My challenge is to act on that compassion. My challenge to everyone this Christmas season is to give something of yourself to someone who in great need. Whether it be money for a nonprofit organization, change for a homeless man, time spent at an orphanage or foster care, or just time spent with someone that's lonely, find a need and meet it.
I guarantee that you will find life in those moments and it will fuel your compassion toward making more life giving choices in the future. It is when we step into moments of purpose that we are fueled and truly become alive.
Yet, there's another part to the challenge. This is the hardest part about doing something good for others. After you've done whatever it is that you chose to do...don't tell anyone about it. I know how unreasonable that may sound, but I promise you this you will not regret your selfless action because at the end of the day it wasn't about you.
In the end, we were created for the sake of those around us. We were formed to sacrifice our own desires so that others may find life.
What does it all cost?
Your life.
What do you gain?
Your life.
Powerful message, Chris. This is what people need to be reading. Thanks for sharing it!
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