It’s that time of year, the time when we focus on the importance of giving. There have been many role models in my life who demonstrate what true generosity looks like. When I think of what it means to be generous, I often think of my mother. Come hell or high water, she is always there for my sister and me. She goes above and beyond trying to help guide us through life, keep us positive, and make sure we feel loved. I think often about how generous and loving she is, and somehow I’m still blown away by her acts of generosity each time they happen.

Do you know someone like that? I hope so, because it’s a powerful thing to feel. Maybe you haven’t been so fortunate, but then hopefully you can imagine what it would feel like. Whether you know it by experience or have to guess at it, try to focus on that feeling. Focus on how it feels when someone goes out of their way to love you and improve your life, regardless of whether they are in a high or low point in theirs. It feels good, right? Can you imagine if they gave more? Can you imagine if they gave you everything? Now, and I shudder just to imagine this, what if they gave you everything, and you threw it in their face?

I can’t begin to describe how much it pains me just to imagine doing that to my mother. The idea of scoffing at her love, throwing away her gifts, wounds me deeply. Speaking as a guy with depression, this hypothetical is more painful than any bout of normal depression.

This scenario is about to get even crazier. What if, despite all of that, this person still loved you and smiled? What if my mom gave me everything, I threw it in her face, and she responded with open arms and a promise that I could come home?

This is what God has done for us.

We are active sinners, and I know I am deep within it. We have the joy of the Lord to look toward, the hope of Christ Jesus that we are saved. When he first arrived, there were many who thought they honored God, but who spat on his son. People that thought they were on the right path were actively rejecting a gift from God, a gift that was very painful to give. God gave it anyway, for them just as much as for us.

Whoever you think of when you think of generosity, know that God’s love for you outmatches anything that person can do. Whether you are surrounded by family this holiday season, or bracing the cold alone, you are loved.

You. Are. Loved.

There is nothing in this world, nothing in this universe, that can ever take away God’s love. And yes, sometimes that means discipline. Love isn’t always soft hugs and cookies. Sometimes it means correction. Sometimes we have to give up something we desire, and we may not always understand why. But the free gift of Jesus’s blood, the promise of an eternity of peace, love, and prosperity in direct relationship with God, that is a gift worth receiving. God is generous. He loves you, and so do I.

Merry Christmas.

John 3:16 (NIV) – For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

Luke 15:21-24 (ESV) – And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ But the father said to his servants, ‘Bring quickly the best robe, and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet. And bring the fattened calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate. For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.’ And they began to celebrate.