Christmas is this week. As you all know, I’m not really a fan. *Gasp.* I know, I know–it’s sacrilegious to not love Christmas. I’m working on it.
There are a lot of really awesome things about Christmas but somehow, they get lost in the stress of the season (at least for me). I’m incredibly thankful for my family, and I actually really love spending time with my husband and my kids. We love and like each other.
One of the big stressors though for me is gift-giving. I’m not even sure why. I think it has to do with this idea that you have to buy a gift that makes the other person happy–that’s a lot of pressure. It’s hard to find something someone is guaranteed to love, something that’s perfect for that person. I realize we all say that it’s the thought that counts but too many times I’ve watched someone open a gift and try to hide their disappointment. This year, as I’ve been doing tapping (EFT) on the subject of Christmas, I realized anew that it really is the love behind the gift that is important–regardless of how people react. I buy gifts because I care about people.
Anyway, something else I’ve been tapping through is my view of money. As you know, I like to view myself as God’s trust fund child. That means God takes care of our money needs when they come up. I’ve been realizing that too often we view money as the thing that makes us happy instead of focusing on the love behind it. How would that change your view of money if you saw it as an expression of God’s love and provision instead of a thing to be acquired in its own right? I know it’s definitely been changing how I think about money.
I’ve been reading several entrepreneurial books lately and it’s so interesting to me that when you study different “rich person” ways of thinking (e.g., Rich Dad, Poor Dad or some of Dave Ramsey’s stuff) are more in line with how the Bible talks about money. For example, thinking that money is just a thing instead of a measure of how well you’re doing in life. Or valuing time more than money. Or treating money as a measure of what’s going on in your heart rather than valuable in itself.
I love in James where it says that God gives good gifts. In her study on James, Beth Moore talks about how those good gifts are perfect for us. God’s gifts are individualized to us–not because He’s winning our affections or because He’s trying to make us value the gift itself, but because He loves us.
So this week, as we’re opening gifts and/or trying to balance our end of year finances, let’s be reminded that God’s gifts are expressions of His love rather than valuing the gifts over the Giver.
