One of the things I try to teach my children is how to be a “giver” not a “taker.” I teach them this because I know how much I need to grow in this area. Christmas is a great time to capitalize on the issue of giving. And over the years, we’ve tried to do this in practical ways by baking Christmas cookies for others, gathering up old toys and clothes for Goodwill, and making and delivering Christmas baskets to needy families in our community. This is definitely a season of giving. But today I was reminded that perhaps Christmas is less about giving and more about receiving.

On the surface it seems like receiving is easy and giving is hard. But not when it comes to our relationship with God. We naturally want to give something to God to impress Him and make him happy with us. It’s as if there’s an innate desire in us to get God on our side by doing something for Him. If we give our time, our money, our gifts to Him, than he will smile on us. And so, at Christmas time you see people volunteering at soup kitchens and dropping money in the Salvation Army buckets feeling good about themselves because they sense that God is happy with them. Don’t get me wrong. These are good things. But is this what God really wants from us this Christmas?

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