Don't forget about the gift you are

In celebrating my first Christmas in retirement, I am sharing past columns I’ve written about Christmas. I call them the 12 columns of Christmas. The following was written for Dec.26, 2010.

Now that the busy Christmas morning is over, maybe it’s time for us to think about our gifts. 

I don’t mean the ones you unwrapped Saturday morning. I’m talking about the gift that you have to offer others every day of the year: you. 

Believe it or not, we all have talents, skills and abilities. Some have more than others, but we all have them. And there are so many opportunities to use them. Too often, we keep them wrapped up and don’t share them. Sometimes it’s God-given gifts; other times it’s gifts we’ve developed through the years.
They range from those who can repair homes, heal the sick, feed the poor, teach the unknowing, protect the vulnerable and minister to the lost or misdirected, to those who can simply share a kind word or a smile with people who are lonely or in despair. 

The important thing is that we use those gifts. 

Appropriately, one of my favorite Bible messages is from Matthew 25:14-30. If you’re not familiar with it, you can look it up.
Briefly, it’s the story of a man who is going away and gives what he owns to three of his servants to take care of. When he returns, he learns that the one to whom he had entrusted the most, has returned double. The same is true for the one to whom he had given the next amount. 

But the one to whom he had given the least simply has kept the money safe and hasn’t put it to any use. 

The point is, the more abilities or blessings that we have, the more we should do with them. But being afraid and not using them at all is simply wasting them. 

Or, as author and motivational speaker Leo Buscaglia said: “Your talent is God’s gift to you. What you do with it is your gift back to God.” 

So, at this time when we focus so much on gifts and gift giving, take some time to think about the gifts you have to share and the gift you are. 

Then consider what you have done with those gifts. 

Those are the gifts that need to be re-gifted. Those are the gifts that keep on giving. 

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.