I must confess, Christmas hasn’t been my favorite holiday. The reason is that gift giving is such a big part of the Christmas season, and that means stress for me. Don’t we hope to give the “perfect” gift? We want to give each person something useful, that will be enjoyed, that fits, that they really want, that they really like, and best of all, that they totally did not expect, or some combination of these qualities. And, we want to do it without running up a credit card bill that takes us to Tax Day to pay off. How often does that happen? 

Every year I see someone disappointed over the gifts they received. I’m not a good shopper and I don’t like to shop, so this all casts a negative cloud on Christmas for me. Whether you are one of those Christmas-loving great gifting-giving people, or not, we all still face the challenge of not letting Christmas gifts overshadow the significance of Christmas. 

Funny how this is sort of a picture of what this time of year is about. It’s the time Christians celebrate Advent, the coming of Christ to Earth. Christ Jesus is God’s gift to us. He is exactly what we need, the perfect fit. Though we may not know it, He is really what we want. When we realize our need, and see how God met it, well, it’s totally unexpected! As we begin to “try it out” we increasingly love this gift more than any other.

The empty tugging deep down inside of us is for a relationship with the living God. Our failure to live up to God’s standard (sin) leaves us, perhaps better than some, but still short of God. The Bible says, For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 6:23, NASB). The gift of God, eternal life, is entrance into a personal, eternal, relationship with God. It is through the forgiveness Christ Jesus secured, and it is free to us for the asking. The cost to Jesus was an excruciating death on a cross. The death of the sinless Son of God was the sufficient means to purchase our forgiveness. 

Have you received that perfect gift? John 1:12 says, “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name.” We receive Jesus by personally turning to Him (repentance) and putting our belief in Him as Savior through what He did for us on the cross. Then we receive the forgiveness of sin that we need, and enter His family. 1 John 5:12 says, “He who has the Son has the life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have the life.” 

This year we’re taking the kids and grandkids shopping to pick out their own gifts (with a dollar limit), then out to eat. We hope to do better in the “perfect gift” category. Even more importantly, we want to enjoy the time together, because it’s relationships that really matter. Merry Christmas, and may all your relationships, and gifts, be good this Christmas season.

— Reflections appears regularly on the religion page. The column features a variety of local writers, coordinated through the Monroe Area Clergy Group. Dan Krahenbuhl is pastor of Monroe Bible Church.