Meditation: God’s Gift to Us
Meditation: God’s Gift to Us
It’s the Christmas season, and families around the world are putting up decorations, buying gifts, and making plans to celebrate the holiday. Christmas is more than an excuse to give gifts and spend time together. All the shopping, all the wishes of goodwill, all the cozy family gatherings would be nothing if it weren’t for the real reason for Christmas. The real reason for the season is our perfect Savior, who left His heavenly home to be born as a baby 2,000 years ago. It was God’s gift to us, and because of His perfect gift we can celebrate this season still today.
Giving Good Gifts
What’s the best gift you’ve ever received for Christmas? Was it the toy you hoped for as a child? Was it the return home of a long distance family member? Was it the honest commitment of a loved one to remain sober and get their life back on track? Even the best gifts we can possibly give pale in comparison to God’s gift to us on that first Christmas. God had promised long ago that He would send a Savior to rescue humankind from their sins. In the little town of Bethlehem, God fulfilled His promise to us, and Jesus was born to human parents. Giving this gift meant that the God of the universe had to humble Himself to take on human flesh, live in this tainted world, and endure the struggles of this life. You know the rest of the story – this perfect baby whose birth we celebrate at Christmas grew up to be a perfect man, tempted by Satan, scorned by His own people, and ultimately put to death on a cross, thus fulfilling His mission and taking on the punishment for our wrongs.
Why God’s Gift is so Special
This is the reason we celebrate Christmas. Because God loved us enough to come to this world to become like us. It was God’s gift to us. This gift is particularly special because of who it came from and who benefits from it. When we typically give gifts, we give to people we love, people who have done something nice for us, or people who deserve them. When God gave us the gift of our Savior, we certainly didn’t deserve it. We’ve all done things we aren’t proud of, and we can all list things we struggle with every day that we know are wrong. Whether we have gotten caught up with mean thoughts, lies, laziness, gossip, drug use, alcohol abuse, hurting those we love, or any other wrong, we don’t deserve God’s love and forgiveness. But He gives it to us, free of charge because He loves us. This should be all the more special to us because of who the forgiveness comes from: our perfect God in heaven. God saw our sin and wrongs and loved us anyway. He chose to punish His Son, our Christmas gift, in our place. This is what makes our Savior’s work so amazing.
What Christmas Means for Us
Now that we know about the perfect gift God gave us on the first Christmas, it should change our lives. As we make our way through each and every day, we will continuously fail and make mistakes. Even when we have the best intentions, we still slip up often. But since God has forgiven our sins, we are free to live a life of thankfulness to Him, dedicating ourselves to praising and serving our Savior. What does this life of thankfulness look like? It is an attitude of joy because we are forgiven. It is love and forgiveness for others, even when they don’t treat us like they should because we know God loves us and He loves them. It is a feeling of hope for an eternity in heaven, not the punishment our sins deserve.
Get Help for Addiction this Christmas
Are you struggling with addiction right now or the drug abuse of a loved one? This Christmas, remember that you and your loved one have already been given the best Christmas present ever. Because of Christmas, you can live like you are forgiven, regardless of your past. This year, leave behind the guilt and shame over addiction because God has forgotten it all. He only cares about your future and the fact that you are His forgiven child. This Christmas gift means you can enjoy the season and spend quality time with loved ones, working to serve God by your thoughts and actions, living a renewed, sober life.
If you haven’t already, get help for addiction today. Don’t wait until the holidays are over; enroll in a treatment program as soon as you can. A Christian addiction treatment program will help you learn how to overcome addiction, achieving sobriety by leaning on the promises of forgiveness, strength, and the everlasting hope of our God.
We all have to be ashamed when we think of the times we have failed to do what is right, but God wants us to accept His forgiveness and turn from the sinful life we’ve led. Trust His strength to get you through this holiday season, and lean on His power to help you overcome addiction.