Gifts

Have you ever received a gift you didn’t need or didn’t like and then given that gift to someone else? Perhaps it was a book that you already had or a sweater that just wasn’t your style. Or maybe it was a gift that you were given that got put away in a closet somewhere and was never used. In today’s world, re-gifting has become more and more common. But is re-gifting okay? Depends on whom you ask. According to the Emily Post Institute, it’s not really okay to re-gift but, if you do, it’s important to ensure that no one feels hurt, either the person who gave you the gift or the person receiving it from you.  You need to ask yourself two questions. First of all, would the person who gave you the gift mind that you were giving it to someone else? And second, what would happen if the original giver and the new recipient knew each other, and realized that you’d re-gifted a gift from one to the other? Awkward!

The gifts that we receive as followers of Christ are gifts that are not only okay to re-gift, they are actually meant to be “re-gifted.” The greatest gift we have received is the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the good news of salvation that comes from believing He died ad rose from the dead to pay for our sins. That is a gift that we are required to re-gift by sharing it with others. Through the power of the Holy Spirit who dwells within us when we give our lives to Jesus, we are to share that gift to those around us, so that they may receive the same salvation that we have been given by God’s grace.

But there are also other gifts that we receive as followers of Christ, spiritual gifts that are not given to us just for our own benefit. They are gifts that we are given to benefit the body of Christ, the church. These gifts are given to us by the Holy Spirit so that we can serve God by sharing our gifts with others. If we have been given the gift of prophecy, then we should prophesy. If we have been given the gift of serving others, then we should serve. If teaching is our gift, then we should teach. If we have been blessed with the gift of encouraging others, then we should be encouragers. If giving is our gift, we should give generously. If our gift is leading, we should lead responsibly. And if our gift is kindness, we should gladly share that gift with others. (Romans 12:6-8)

We have all been given some or all of these gifts, and they are meant to be used, to be shared, or re-gifted, if you will. And, most importantly, we should use and share our gifts with a sincere love for one another.