Gift of Love
It is
relatively easy to see how one can love a person who is easy-going, friendly, and
caring, but what of a person who has some glaring faults. One might say a
negative person doesn’t deserve a compassionate eye. If you are aware of your
own shortcomings you too may say, “I don’t deserve your love.”
So why
does one––offer an encouraging smile for a person feeling down, stand with a
person who is being bullied, take a homeless person out for dinner? A possible
motivation is to make another’s life a little bit brighter even if it is only
for a short time. No payment in the form of behavior or an exchange of favors is
a prerequisite.
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At
Christmas or birthdays parents give presents to their children. They expect
nothing in return. True when the children are young their laughter and
excitement is sufficient. The true gift is not the present but the thought
behind the gift––you are so important to me that I want to do what I can to
make your life a little happier.
In this
Christmas season one can look to our heavenly father as acting to make our life
better. He gave us a most precious and valuable gift, His only son. God didn’t
want us to have to pay for our many self-centered actions. What a wonderful
gift! What an act of love! Can we reflect that same giving example at Christmas
time but also during the rest of the year?
In my novel,
Baggage
burdens. while Jill, many times is the recipient of acts of love,
she struggles with anything being given freely, with love.
Three
steps into the kitchen, Jill freezes. In place of their card-sized kitchen
table stands a new eight-place wooden table. Two chairs flank the table ends
and three more on each side. A card greets Jill. In black letters below, she
reads: To Jill, from Joseph. Merry
Christmas.
“I
appreciate it. I really do.” Jill bows her head. “But I, but I don’t deserve
it. I’ve done nothing to earn your trust.” Jill pauses before she adds, “Or
your love.”
“Love
is not earned. It’s a gift.”
haiku
capsule:
Serve undeserving
please disadvantaged people
Christmas spirit lives
Next blog:
New Year, New Hopes
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