The Gift You Can’t Take Credit For

Has someone ever said to you, “Can you put my name on the gift?” If so you know these are the famous last words of someone who wants to take credit for a gift they didn’t shop for, purchase or wrap.

Yet somehow, they still want credit for giving the gift, as if they actually took the time. To be honest, I have been that person before… have you?

As we approach the holiday season we’re going to be thinking about gifts a lot. We will probably be thinking more about the gifts we want than the gifts we might be giving. Chances are we’ll probably take credit for a gift or two that we had nothing to do with.

But did you know the Bible tells us that there’s one gift in particular that we can never take credit for? It’s the gift of God’s grace.

It says, “God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it.” (Ephesians 2:8-9)

You know a lot of times we like to think that we make ourselves into good people. We like to put our names on our good deeds so the world can see how good we are.

We tend to think that because of our efforts, goodness or our generosity God should automatically give us the gift of his grace as if it’s something that we earn. But really our efforts don’t amount to much more than putting our name on a gift that didn’t even belong to us and we didn’t purchase.

It’s like saying to God, “Hey, God put my name on the gift because you know I really earned it. I’ve been a really good person you know.” The truth is we could never earn it. Not even in our wildest dreams.

The fact we can’t earn God’s gift of grace is what makes it all the more special. It’s something only He can give.

As we approach the holidays we’re going to celebrate a time of thanksgiving and a time of joy this Christmas. Both of these holidays should remind us of the wonderful free gift of God’s grace that is found in Jesus Christ.

It’s the gift with the card that only has God’s name on it. It says, “This is my free gift of grace to you, purchased by my son Jesus when he died on the cross. We had you in mind when he bought it. All my love, God.”