We know how much God loves us, and we have put our trust in his love. God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them. (1 John 4:16, NLT).

Key Points:

• Christmas is all about the Gospel and giving – how God gave everything to us in Jesus Christ, so that we may have eternal life.
• Giving brings a taste of heaven down to us.

It happens, especially if you’re tired. I mean that moment of semi-panic on the eve of Christmas when you think of all the gifts left to buy, and all the cards not sent! It takes energy to plan and do good things, and energy is often sadly lacking, even for the saints.

At times, we might even be tempted to murmur like Scrooge in Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, “Bah, humbug!” But we don’t mean it. In our heart of hearts, we know that as long as we are receiving, it is good and right (and a privilege also) to be giving.

Giving does not get us to heaven, but it does bring heaven down to us.

Giving brings heaven down to us.

God is the greatest giver. To give is to be like God, for giving is loving, and God is love. “Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love” (1 John 4:8).

The main gift God offers to all, this Christmas season, is the everlasting Gospel, the good news of heaven’s willing bankruptcy of itself that we might live. That gift received brings with it all other gifts, including the gift of learning to become givers. – Des Ford (adapted)

Reflection: Christmas is all about the Gospel – how God gave everything to us in Jesus Christ, so that we may have eternal life. This is the greatest gift we could have ever received.

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Article supplied with thanks to Dr Eliezer Gonzalez. Dr Eli Gonzalez is the Senior Pastor of Good News Unlimited and the presenter of the Unlimited radio spots, and The Big Question. Sign up to his free online course called Becoming a Follower of Jesus to learn about Jesus and His message.

Feature image: Photo by Kira auf der Heide on Unsplash