One of the Best Definitions of Christmas I Ever Heard!

Dr. John H. Grant

Isaiah
9:6 (NKJV), For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; and
the government will be upon His shoulder. and His name will be called
Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

John
3:16 (NKJV), For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten
Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have
everlasting life. 

Acts
20:35 (NKJV), I have shown you in every way, by laboring like this,
that you must support the weak. And remember the words of the Lord
Jesus, that He said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’ “  

In
our fallen sinful state, people believe it is far more blessed to
receive than to give. Jesus taught the opposite. What would the
influence of the church be today if more Christians would give as
generously and as freely as they expect God to give to them? Most
Christians I know appear to have a built-in defect at the point of
believing what Jesus taught about giving. In our materialistic and
prosperity-oriented culture of today, too many have been deceived into
believing that happiness comes through getting and hoarding. Jesus
actually taught, however, that happiness comes through giving, sharing
and serving others.

For many people, the word “giving” causes our pocketbook protection
instinct to take over, and we erect defenses and reasons not to give.
We need to know that giving is to us spiritually what breathing is to
us physically.

Our physical bodies will die quickly if we only inhaled, and never
exhaled. When we are self-centered, fail or cease to give, our
spiritual life dies. Stinginess toward God and/or others is a sign of a
spiritual malady. When we do not share the resources God has given,
there is bound to be a defect in our so-called conversion experience.

Dr. C.A. W. Clark of the Good Street Baptist Church of Dallas, Texas, once said:

God made divine clad hills and they give.
God made the majestic mountains and hid their nakedness with a robe of
clouds, and crowned their bald heads with the diadems of snow, and the
mountains give.
God made the blushing flowers of variegated colors, and they give.
God made the babbling brooks, and they give.
God made the winding rivers, and they give.
God made the billowy oceans, and they give.
God made the meandering streams, and they give.
God made the twinkling stars, and hung them up as the lanterns of eternity, and they give.
God made the moon queen of the lunar system to ride forth in her
celestial boudoir, looking like a yellow jonquil blooming in the
midnight garden of a cloudless sky, and the moon gives.
God made the sun king of day to step out into his fiery chariot and
move across     the vaulted dome from east to west, and the sun gives.
God made man, and man sits around thinking up reasons not to give.

A man once wrote his pastor during a stewardship campaign complaining
about the church and its ministry. He complained that all he ever heard
about around the church was giving, giving, giving. The pastor wrote
back and said, “I thank you for one of the best definitions of
Christianity I have ever heard. Christianity is giving, giving,
giving!”

This is also one of the best definitions of Christmas I have ever
heard. Christmas is about giving, giving, giving! God so loved the
world that He gave His only begotten Son. Unto us a child is born; unto
us a son is given. Jesus taught it is more blessed to give than to
receive.

Our God is a giving God, and creation is at its best when it is a
giving creation. God is love (1 John 4:16), and we are most like God
when we show love through what we give.

If John 3:16 had only contained the words “For God so loved the world,”
that would not have meant much to us. We would have been left saying,
“So What?” But when that same passage adds “that He gave His only
begotten Son,” then it means something to us. God demonstrated God’s
love through what God gave! Just saying He loves with no demonstration
of His love would have meant nothing to us!

In a similar way, we are called to not merely talk love, but to
demonstrate love through what we give. One may give without loving, but
one cannot love without giving. This is not about the overly
commercialized giving and exchanging of gifts between friends and loved
ones at Christmas. This is about the giving of our hearts, ourselves,
our time, talents and treasures in service to God and others, not just
at Christmas, but throughout the year. To this end, may our lives be
characterized by giving, giving, giving!

Rev. Dr. John H. Grant, Pastor of Mt. Zion Missionary Baptist Church and founder of Mt. Zion Community Development, Inc.