The origin of giving
gifts at Christmas is rooted in the birth of Christ. In the context of the time Mary was to give
birth to a king. So it would only be expected that the three wise men would
bring gifts befitting a king. Gold, frankincense and myrrh, in ancient times
were highly prized commodities.
Myrrh being commonly used as an anointing oil, frankincense as a perfume, and gold as a valuable metal made the giving of these three gifts a spiritual meaning of; gold as a symbol of kingship on earth, frankincense as a symbol of deity, and myrrh as a symbol of death.
Somehow through the commercialization of Christmas we have lost the real meaning
of giving. It is not about how much money you spend or how the big the gift. It
is about giving for the sake of giving; sacrificing for the sake of sacrifice.
The real reason we give gifts at Christmas is to remind us that birth and death
are two ends of the life spectrum. What we give in-between is a mark of the
value we place on life.
Here are some free gifts worth giving. These won’t cost you a cent, but
they will bring joy and good will.
To
your enemy give forgiveness, to an opponent give tolerance, to a friend give a
helping hand, to those you love give an open heart, to a customer give good
service, be charitable and give your time, to every child give a good example
of what it means to give unselfishly and
to yourself give respect.
These
are gifts that come from the heart. Think what would happen if we gave these
gifts, not just at Christmas, but all year round? We would then experience the
true meaning of Christmas, which is to make the world a better place for all of
humankind and in this we all thrive.
Doctor
Lynn
Full blog @
No comments:
Post a Comment