Seeing the Real Christmas Gift
The real gifts of Christmas bear no time stamps and linger. These gifts touch hearts and minds long after annual calendars dismiss December’s wintry nights. Sometimes we receive these gifts without full knowledge and need help to understand.
I received an incomprehensible present when one of my friends gifted me three waxed amaryllis bulbs. I opened the box and saw turnips. Looking again, I found the packing slip identifying the strange items as amaryllis bulbs. I knew what to do with turnips. Flower bulbs required additional guidance.
I searched the internet for information on how and when to plant and water amaryllis bulbs. Content was heavy on care, timing, and work. Dejected with another project, I decided to resolve the matter later and didn’t notice the bulbs’ wax casings.
My friend called the next day, asking if I had received her gift and understood the instructions. Instructions? She texted the missing item and a picture of her growing flowers. Her document featured the words zero-care. I warmed up to becoming a flower grower.
Although glad garden tools not required, I would have planted these bulbs. The real gift arriving on my doorstep unveiled kindness. Kindness is just one of the desired spiritual fruit revealing our true nature in Christ and reflecting the same love Jesus exemplified when he sacrificed self for each one of us. The love Christ asked us to share with one another.
Kindness can look like turnips or flower bulbs, but hearts reflecting the love of Christ point to God in ways that make gifts grow larger and bloom bigger. These gifts bless both giver and recipient and show our desire to mirror Christ.
Love to all and for all. All the time.
Kindness loomed large as I prepared for holiday travels. My sister advised me to be kind. I wondered why she voiced these particular words, as if I might need to pack some kindness in a duffle bag. Should I shop for kindness at the grocery store before leaving town? Maybe I needed to just get myself some, as the author of Proverbs 4 states when writing we are to get wisdom.
Earthly kindness might look like packing an additional item for a temporary occasion, but kindness for Christ denotes eternal life. We are seated with Christ in heaven, even as we travel through life on earth. We’re not perfect but transformed; not completed works but works in progress; not purposeless but purposeful.
We can’t shop for kindness, just like we can’t shop for wisdom. Kindness is an outgrowth of transformed hearts seeking to shine the light of Christ whether we feel merry or bright. Even a dim light provides a way out of darkness, and we may never know who other than God watches our lights, sees our actions, or understands our hearts.
Motives underscore heart differences when understanding grace given. Through love’s command, kindness guides lifeboats to the sinking, flailing, and suffering who need help to live now and forever. Once kindness lends a helping hand, understanding life rescue can take place. Take the hand, open the box, trust the giver. Full knowledge will come.
I’m certain I need to water and nourish my spiritual fruit. It’s the work of our lives to grow spiritually to look and act more like God, who first loved us. I’m glad to have friends who give and help me understand how to act more like Jesus. To live in ways nurturing kindness and growing love to all and for all. All the time.
