Regarding earthly gifts from family and friends, it’s the thought that counts. I can’t really think of any specific gifts that stand out.
I can think of a chocolate monkey that my youngest daughter gave me when she was a very young child. I got a lot of joy out of that, not so much the monkey itself, but her enthusiasm and determination to get it for me. I did eventually consume it 😀, but it’s the sweetness of the memory that’s important to me.
The best gift of all though is Salvation. And despite what some believe, Scripture teaches that it’s a gift. When I grew up as a Roman Catholic, that’s not something that was emphasized. We knew that Jesus died for us, but it seemed more like he died to removed barriers such as original sin and to give us a “running chance” of earning a place in heaven by being religious and doing good works. I appreciate that some Roman Catholics” do believe in salvation by grace alone and by faith alone, but I never knew anything about that until I met evangelical Christians and started reading the Bible for myself. I did hear in history class that Martin Luther believed in salvation by faith alone, but it seemed too good to be true at the time.
So, why do I say salvation is a gift? Here are some Bible verses that emphasize this.
Romans 5:15 (Contrasting Adam bringing sin into the world with Jesus who brought salvation)
15 But the gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died by the trespass of the one man, how much more did God’s grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many!
Romans 6:23
For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Ephesians 2:8-9
For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast.
2 Timothy 1:9
9 He has saved us and called us to a holy life—not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time,
Notice how the last statement speaks of being called to a holy life. Receiving the gift of salvation shouldn’t make us careless about holiness. Many Roman Catholics that I spoke to worry about this very thing happening if you tell people that they’re place in heaven is secure and that they don’t need to do their part in earning their place in heaven.
But my experience is that when I met evangelical Christians, they did aspire to holiness, whereas most Roman Catholics didn’t take religion all that seriously. I appreciate that things might be different in other parts of the world. I once met a man who came from a region that was highly populated with evangelical Christians, and he said that he didn’t see much holiness among them. Anyway, the more we focus on God’s love and the fact that He has saved us, the more eager we will be to be like him. And when we put God out of the picture, we are more likely to drift away from him. I committed my life to Christ when I was 18, and I have attended evangelical churches ever since. They’re not full of perfect people, but I do find much encouragement to love and worship God. When I was a Catholic, most of us would avoid talk of God for fear of being seen as a “holy Joe” 😀.
So many hymns celebrate the gift of salvation. Perhaps the most famous one is Amazing Grace.
Hibernia Gospel 