The Best Gift

Some people think that when they give someone a gift, it still belongs to them. What I mean is that they think they have a right to tell the recipient what to do with the gift. They want control over the gift. 

But true giving gives without strings attached. True giving gives willingly from the heart. True giving does not demand reciprocation. 

God so loved the world that he gave...

Sure, God wants people to reciprocate His love. But few do. God gives human beings the gift of earthly life and the opportunity to receive everlasting life. Very few people believe in Jesus. Very few people do what Jesus asks them to do to receive salvation. Very few people follow Jesus. Very few people give anything back to Jesus. 

When we give our lives to Jesus, we need to give without reservations, as He did. We often sing songs like, "I give myself away so you can use it. My life is not my own. To you I belong." But when God makes decisions about our lives that we do not approve of, we want control back. We want to take our lives back into our own jurisdiction and make our own decisions. 

Essentially, we give God a gift: Us. But we give with strings attached. With expectations that He will do things the way we want Him to. That our lives will be free of problems and suffering. We demand reciprocation. 

This is not what God wants. And it is not what will bring us true fulfillment. If we are going to give our lives to God, then we need to give without strings attached. 

"God, here I am. I am giving you a gift: Me. Take my life and do with it whatever you want to do. My life is no longer my own. It belongs to you." 

When God gave to us, He gave the best gift that could ever be given. He gave without reservations or an expectation of reciprocation. He gave knowing that millions of people would never, ever say, "Thank you." 

It is humanly impossible to give that way. But the longer I live for God, the more I realize that I don't want my life to belong to me. I mess things up every time. And you do too, whether you are willing to admit it or not. The best thing we can ever do is give our lives to God, unreservedly, willingly, completely. That is the best gift we can ever give to our loving God who gave His all to us.