During
this season of Advent, we find ourselves in the midst of a society
consumed by the commercialization of Christmas. Anybody who tries to
find parking at a mall this time of year can clearly see that there
is an increased sense of giving, but we must all ask ourselves if we
are giving in the way Christ calls us to. We live in a culture where
people think presents and other forms of giving are a sort of
exchange: if I give you something, you'll give me something in
return. However, this isn't the example Christ gave us. God did not
create us and Christ did not come into this world and die on the
cross for us because he expected us to somehow repay him. God gave us
these gifts simply because he loves us. True giving stems from love
and expects nothing in return. As we move further into Advent and
towards Christmas, we should all strive to make our giving about
loving others and caring for those in need in a way that glorifies
God and prepares our hearts for the coming of Christ.
Here
are a couple of ideas for charitable giving that I’m mulling over
for this year (keeping in mind that it’s nearly impossible to give
to EVERYONE!):
No comments:
Post a Comment