Share your gifts from God

You can truly light the world when with gratitude you share your gifts from God with others.

2021 Light the World Calandar
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Christmas is just around the corner, and the suggested action for today from the Light the World with Love calendar fits well with the season.  Entitled “Gifts from God,” it reads, “You can express gratitude like Jesus did.  Reflect on the gifts God has given you, and write them down.  Share your gratitude with others.”

In contrast with the suggested action we discussed on the program last week, this suggested action seems tailor-made for me.  I’ll complete it just by broadcasting this episode of the Joy in the Journey Radio program!  That said, I don’t want to take this opportunity lightly.  The real power behind what we do — and this is true of anything and everything we do — comes from what we bring to it.

Starting with gratitude simply promotes an extra portion of power.  That’s especially true of giving.  Indeed, true giving begins with gratitude.  As we discussed recently, the more grateful you are, the more you will have, and the more you have, the more you can give.  You can truly light the world when with gratitude you share your gifts from God with others.

Reflect on unique gifts

We often think of gifts being highly prized and desirable attributes or skills.  So it’s not that surprising when some of us who don’t have those highly prized and desirable attributes or skills feel we don’t have any gifts.

That’s of course not true.  I don’t care who you are or where you’re from.  Everyone has gifts from God.  We all have talent for something.  When we exercise our talents, executing the necessary action just seems to flow more easily, even if we lack specific training.  God gave talents to everyone so we all can contribute positively to others’ lives.

I’m convinced we each have multiple talents from God.  Often, they aren’t what we’d think of as talents.  I once knew a sister missionary whose smile was so infectious you couldn’t help but feel a little better when her smile shone upon you.  Another friend was a really good listener.  We don’t normally think of smiling and listening as talents, and yet I would submit they qualify.

What talents do you have from God?  What gifts has He given you that make your contribution to the lives of others unique?  Reflect on those gifts for a moment and simmer in gratitude for them.

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Reflect on common gifts

Of course, we share some gifts from God in common.  Again, I don’t care who you are or where you are from.  God has blessed each of us not only with gifts unique to each one of us but also with gifts we share in common.

The first such gift is the greatest gift of God — the gift of His Only Begotten Son, Jesus Christ.  He is the reason for the season precisely because He is the greatest gift.  Through Him, we all have the opportunity to repent and to live forever with God and those we most love.  Through Him we all have the power to acquire the fulness of not just our spiritual potential but every other potential as well, be that emotional, intellectual, or physical.

Unfortunately, that gift too often goes unappreciated, as does the second greatest gift from God — agency.  Every moment, we get to choose for ourselves what we’ll think, say, and do — and with that what we’ll become.  Between our Advocate with the Father and our agency, we have the essentials to become our best selves, live our best life, and achieve the fulness of our potential.  Yet too often we don’t even consider these gifts as the gateways to greatness they are.

Don’t let that be you.  Take a moment to reflect and meditate on these wonderful gifts and the opportunities they make possible in your life.  Marinade your soul in gratitude for your gifts from God.

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Share gratitude with others

But it’s not just enough to feel gratitude.  You must share it as well!  Otherwise, the circle won’t be complete.

What does that mean?  Gratitude is an emotion for what has come into your life.  You then decide what you will send out to others.  What you send out will come back to you again, even when that something is nothing; if you send nothing out, you won’t get anything back again.  But when you send out something — say, gratitude, for instance — you will find it later returned to you.

Whatever your gifts from God, take time to reflect on them, feel gratitude for them, and then share that gratitude with others.  You’ll find more reason to celebrate the season while moving yourself closer to becoming your best self and living your best life.  And that will bring you more joy in your journey.

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You can listen to the monologue for this episode of Joy In The Journey Radio for free by using the player here.  Feel free to continue the conversation by leaving a comment. Find out how to listen to all of this episode of Joy in the Journey Radio (as well as other full episodes) by going to the show page for this episode!  Alternatively, you can watch the full episode on the Joy in the Journey Radio YouTube channel.