Life and Peace – Week Four

Several years back, I was invited to a post-Christmas gift exchange. The instructions were to re-wrap a present you’d received, but you didn’t want to keep and bring it with you to the party. Once there, in white-elephant fashion, amid much laughter, we ended up with another’s devalued gift. Though I don’t remember what I brought, I recall claiming a blanket that I still have today. As they say, one person’s trash is another one’s treasure.

So, what determines a gift’s value? Clearly, it is more than a monetary amount.

Some of the most treasured items in my home don’t quite fit my personality or style. They are things I would never purchase or select on my own, but they bring me joy. Why? Because of who they are from. I think of handmade potholders from a women’s group in Cuba, a flower crafted from tissue paper by a girl in Nicaragua, or wooden prayer hands from a Liberian friend.

Or I have a decoration I received from a friend years ago. Someone who probably doesn’t shop much or have extra cash, but they carefully picked out this item for me. Often when I see that piece, I smile, remembering the surprise and appreciation I felt when I opened this unexpected gift.

A gift’s real value is determined by who the giver is, their level of investment in the giving, and the gift’s significance to the recipient.

During the Christmas season, Jesus is often described a God’s greatest gift. And indeed, He is! Jesus. Born to bring us hope and peace. Died to set us free. Living so that we may live. But today, I want you to think about another gift – the gift given to us by “God’s greatest gift.”

Not long before His death, Jesus shared with His disciples, “I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever; that is the Spirit of truth.” (John 14:16-17) The gift of the Spirit was so necessary that Jesus even went as far as to say it was good for Him to go away.

Jesus is our hope. But this hope is not yet fully realized. Our hope is not in the seen but the unseen. It is looking forward to what is to come. Through the Spirit, we learn to lean into our future hope and live it out today.

Jesus died and rose again to bring salvation, but the Holy Spirit works out that salvation inside of us. On our own, we are weak; but the Spirit strengthens our minds.

For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace. Romans 8:6

The Spirit leads us into freedom.

For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are the sons of God. For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again… Romans 8:14-15

He proclaims our identity as God’s children.

The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God. Romans 8:16

He strengths us and advocates to God on our behalf.

In the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. Romans 8:26

He searches our hearts and guides us in God’s way.

He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. Romans 8:27

Consider the value of Jesus’s gift to you and me!

The Giver: Jesus, the Savior of the world
The Level of Investment: His life
The Significance to the Receiver: Invaluable – only through the Spirit can we experience the life and peace of Jesus.

The question is, what will we do with this priceless gift?