I Hope You Give more than You Get

The Christmas season is upon us! In exactly eight days, everyone in the nation will be singing Christmas carols or hearing them, cooking a feast or eating it, giving gifts or getting them. This is a season of happiness and peace, a season in which even the most miserly Scrooge opens his shutters and buys his clerk a turkey. We happily grant things to those with less fortune than ourselves, even if that simply means our best friend in a lesser situation or even our children who do not earn any money. We are consumed with a fire of charity and giving.

Or are we?

For some, perhaps,  the above paragraph is true. Giving really is more important to them than receiving. But others are more consumed with their own fast-paced American lives than with a "fire of charity and giving". Has buying presents become simply a chore for us to get done, another thing on our holiday to-do list? Do we expect to be happy when we receive gifts ourselves instead of simply being content with the smile on a child's face, or on an elder's, or even on a stranger's?

Ben Carson, a prominent surgeon and a candidate for presidency, says that, "Happiness doesn't result from what we get, but from what we give." This is and has always been absolutely true. Everyone knows that giving makes you feel good. But it shouldn't be about that. We shouldn't give because it makes us feel happy. We should give because it will make someone else feel happy.

This year, Glade, the candle company, aired a commercial that illustrates this idea of giving perfectly. It features an elderly man sitting alone in his darkened house, among his neighbors' festive and bright homes. He looks around at pictures of holidays past, of him and his wife together, and then he drives off in his car. While lighting a Glade candle in her window, the man's neighbor notices his dark house. She takes down her own Christmas lights and hangs them on his house for him to discover when he returns. It is really a beautiful picture of giving in a completely selfless way. I've included the extended version in my post; take a look:

 

 

Look at the way the old man's face lights up, literally, when he sees the strand of brightly colored bulbs hanging from his porch. And look at the joy on the young woman's face as she shares in his happiness. That's what I'm talking about. That's what Christmas is about. It's about sharing, giving, unity. Making someone else happy. What did this woman get in return for her kindness? Nothing, not even the credit for doing it.

 

Sharing.

 

Giving.

 

Unity.

 

This year, when you buy your last-minute Christmas gifts, try to think of it that way instead of  cursing yourself for procrastinating. After all, what is the real meaning of Christmas? What, surely you've heard! We celebrate God's sharing, merciful spirit when he gave us His son on that beautiful night, so that one day, we all might be forgiven and united with Him. I think our giving to each other should be a picture of what happened on that night, when God loved us so much that he gave us his only son, so that "whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life (John 3:16)". That's the Christmas spirit. That's giving, people! And I hope you always remember to give more than you get, not for yourself, but for others.

 

Merry Christmas!