The greatest of all gifts to give

Christianity today has allowed us to surrounded ourselves with the right actions, the right things to say, and the right way to make ourselves feel worth while. We focus a lot on how we can serve God. We focus on how forgiving and merciful and full of grace he is (or at least that is the lingo we use).

These things are great to focus on, but if Christ is truly reigning in our every day life then why do we focus so hard trying to convince ourselves and others of how true these traits are?
What I am saying is many of us talk a good talk, but our words are empty to our own ears, and our actions will always speak louder than our words.
So, to make sure we stay on the straight and narrow we often take classes to learn, to keep growing, and often as soon as a class ends we are full of knowledge of how things should be but do not actually put them into action on a daily basis.

Now I know I have benefited from classes and learning experiences where I strive to educate myself on what God desires of me as a person under his authority and leadership. I take classes to be encouraged and hear more of how to apply Gods word to my every day life. I've taken test to find out what my best gifts are, sought where his purpose is for me and all the details of how I could best be used with my personality to serve God. 

I have learned and taken some serious time to study with and even under a few others who have some of the same gifts and interests in learning and developing their gifts as I do.
But taking tests, and learning haven't always gotten me anywhere. I have studied and learned until I was blue in the face, to the point maybe of over doing it.

I got so caught in the mundane studying of these different gifts I have and how to best use them that I have forgotten to use the most important gift of all.
This gift is not listed in a spiritual gifts test or even in a personality test. .  It is the most important gift any of us have and yet we never list it as a gift or personally trait we have. 

When we have Jesus it is the gift we often times forget to even portray effectively. We use the term a lot and I mean a lot!! But yet, so many of us never see it as a gift, let alone our main gift. 

We have people who excel in having the gift of faith, or healing, or speaking in tongues, or prophecy, or knowledge, or wisdom, or teaching, or preaching, or hospitality, encouragement, peacemaker, or the gift of giving or maybe some claim to excel in all of these areas as  they have devoted themselves to be well trained and well versed.

 But I tell you the scripture is very clear; though you may have all these gifts if you do not have and practice and hold tight to the one that is most important you are only a cymbal, a resounding gong, you are nothing!

I Corinthians 13:1-3

"If I speak in tongues of men and if angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I posses to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing."

I have been going to church a long long time. I have been taught from birth about Christianity. But I have also traveled a road where I was running away from God. And I can tell you this, no one who is great in any of the above areas mention prophecy, gifts, faith, speaking in tongues, none of those things would have ever been what made me choose to come back to have a relationship with God. The thing that brought me back wasn't Gods amazing power to give me those gifts.
What brought me back was His love! His never ending ability to love me, chase me and call me his! I was His, no matter how far I ran or how many times I pushed him away. He loved me no matter what my faults. His love, and only His ability to love me was what brought me back to my need for him to be my Savior and Lord.

All the gifts in the world won't bring people to an understanding of the love they are looking for. The only way for people to understand the type of love they are missing out on is for us to be that love to them and to everyone.
People aren't going to walk into your church knowing that is where they are to find what they are missing. That is why we are the salt of the earth, the light on a hill. (Matthew 5:13&14) We are to shine the love everywhere to help people know and see the light of the love they need and want  is something we have. But don't leave them in the dark wishing they could have your light, show them the flame can be theirs too! Give them the gift of the Love of Jesus that you posses.

We may have gifts but we need to share the most important gift God gave each of us the moment we asked Jesus to be king of our lives and that is HIS love. 

It's not something that can be forced or faked, it's not something we can talk about and claim to have and understand. It is the ability to let it spill over, to let it just flow off of you. 

When filled with God's love and using that gift as your first gift to give it will only enhance your ability, understanding and desire to use the other gifts you have been given appropriately. 

When you put the gift of love first you will never prophecy in bluntness, you will use encouraging words that will be genuine not forced or just said out of habit. Your faith will be made stronger, your ability to speak any language will be made more beautiful and any other gifts will just be made better, more sincere, less showy. 

You won't be doing those things just because they are the right things to do anymore and you get another gold star because you did another great task for Jesus (even when you didn't want too). You will be doing those things because you will want too. They will gladly flow out of your heart and soul. The fruit of the Spirit which all starts with LOVE will just happen because you are filled with the greatest love that everyone on earth is looking for. 

So as we set up our trees, greet people with those smiles and put on the "Christmas spirit" instead of being ritualistic in our actions lets just ask God to really have us focus on the real gift he gave all of us! The gift of love. Tis the season to give to all but this year, let's learn the gift and give the gift and never give up sharing the most important gift we all forget we have. Let the gift of giving that love still exist come the 1st of the year and tax season and St Patrick's day and Easter and the 4th of July and may we make 2015 a year where love was the theme of our year. The year where Christians were known for their gift of sharing Love to all the world. 

Give the gift of love.
Seek to practice it and grow it more than you would wisdom, discernment, knowledge, faith, speaking in tongues, healing or any other gift we desire to have. 

Put on love, and keep it on! May you never take it off but may it always flow from you to all!