GIFTS SHOULD BE APPRECIATED AND TAKEN ARE OF, BUT WHAT IF THEY AREN’T?

BIBLE PASSAGE:
If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts 
to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give 
good gifts to those who ask him! 
(Matthew 7:11)

MEDITATION:
If you gave someone what you felt was a precious gift, 
and they failed to treat it carefully and seemed to lack appreciation for it, 
how would it make you feel?
Would it hurt your feelings because they seemed to care very little 
about your thoughtfulness and efforts to give them a gift that you 
thought they would enjoy?
If you visited them and saw your gift carelessly unprotected and stuck 
away in some corner covered with dust, and possibly even damaged, 
would it remind you of the hurt you felt when you gave them the gift?

Jesus Christ willingly gave His life 
so that we could receive the precious gift of salvation.
And it wasn’t a quick death – He suffered 
for three hours in pain and public humiliation.
It was a brutal death 
which included driving huge nails through His hands and feet.
All of His suffering showed His love for mankind and His desire 
for us to receive a precious gift that we should treasure forever.
For the wages of sin is death, 
but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 6:23)

It is a gift from our Heavenly Father as a result 
of the love and thoughtfulness of His Son, Jesus Christ.
Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of 
the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. (James 1:17)

Instead of being doomed to a curse of death 
resulting from the actions of one man,
we can receive the gift of grace 
resulting from the actions and love of Jesus.
But the gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died by the trespass 
of the one man, how much more did God’s grace and the gift that came by 
the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many! (Romans 5:15)

For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, 
how much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace 
and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus 
Christ! (Romans 5:17)

It is a permanent gift which is not a free pass to continue a life of sin,
but a promise that we can begin a new life of showing our heartfelt 
appreciation for the love and thoughtfulness of the One who made the gift 
possible.
for God’s gifts and his call are irrevocable. (Romans 11:29)

Someone made the comment, “Since I have received the gift of salvation, 
I can sin all I want to sin. However, I don’t want to sin anymore”.
The question each of us should ask ourselves is, 
“How much do I cherish His gift, and how will I treat it?”

When we think about how it hurts us whenever others fail to appreciate or 
take care of the gifts we have given them, we have to wonder if Jesus feels 
the pain of the nails driven through His hands and feet whenever He sees 
our lack of appreciation for His gift of love to us.
Do our failures cause Him pain again?

The gift of salvation we receive opens the door to more precious gifts.
When we make a decision to surrender our lives to the Lord and receive His 
gift of salvation, we receive the “gift of the Holy Spirit” as a bonus.
Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of 
Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the 
gift of the Holy Spirit. (Acts 2:38)

When we receive the gift of the Holy Spirit, 
we also receive at least one spiritual gift (maybe more).
We have to decide 
how we will treat our individualized and precious spiritual gift.
Will we hide it in some corner of our mind, 
or will we be faithful stewards of the gift, and use it to serve others? 
Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, 
as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms. (1 Peter 4:10)

ACTION:
If asked, I suspect that every Christian 
would say, “I never want to be guilty of hurting Jesus in any way”.
But we have to wonder if our sins do in fact hurt Him.
Does it break His heart when we receive the Holy Spirit 
and at least one spiritual gift and do nothing with either?

In order to be His hands, feet, and voice, we are given the Holy Spirit 
to help us use our precious spiritual gift to serve Him, by serving others.
Jesus showed His love for us by dying a long and painful death on the cross,
by giving us the Holy Spirit, and by giving us 
a spiritual gift to be used to prove our love for Him.

Pray,
“Heavenly Father, forgive me for being lackadaisical and unappreciative 
of the precious gift of salvation I have received. Forgive me for not 
actively using the spiritual gift I have been given, and for failing to 
call on the Holy Spirit to help me in my efforts to serve others. In the 
eyes of the world, I may fail in many ways, but I know that when I am 
serving You, I am not a failure. Create in me a new love and appreciation 
for the precious gifts I have received, and help me to make a determined 
effort to become a faithful steward of my gifts as I make a new commitment 
to serving You.”

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