Giving Responsibly

It’s well known that winter can be a time of year that brings on some of the deepest times of depression for some people. Winter brings on coldness, darker evenings, and even dead things. There are quite a few people that you may even know that suffer from what has been labeled Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD). It’s basically a mood disorder that people deal with at particular times of the year; typically, people are more likely to feel SAD during winter.

But it’s kind of nice that winter starts off with another season that many people get excited about – the giving season (AKA Christmas). This is the time of gift-giving and family and laughter, although it is for that same reason that many feel SAD. For the many people that don’t have a healthy relationship with their family, or don’t have the money, or the people to give to, there may not be much point in laughter.

This is why it’s so important to stay focused on how gift-giving can be a tremendous blessing to people feeling SAD, or anyone else too. Perhaps one struggle that many people deal with is knowing who to buy for, or how much to spend, etc. This very normal dilemma can cause us to lose sight of the gifts as a means to bless someone and end up being something almost counterproductive to God’s will.

In other words, we can become people that focus on fulfilling every wish for those closest to us, while closing our eyes to those that need more than more trinkets and treasures. When does accumulating more things hurt our walk with God?

The truth is, that many of us realize that the overabundance of things can become a snare of the devil. 1 Timothy 6:6-10, “But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.”

Obviously, nothing is wrong with buying a gift for someone; in fact, many things are right about it. After all, God gave a wonderful gift of eternal life to anyone who will trust in His son and join with Him. The real danger may be that excess can cause arrogance which is a perfect recipe for idolatry. Thankfully, God has given us plenty of direction in His Word on how to give wisely and abundantly without causing obstacles to faith and generosity.