A Christmas Gift

I'm not a great poet. I like poems that rhyme and I get annoyed when I have to dig around for a hidden meaning. So the poem I'm about to share with you will not win any awards. But I like it because it reminds me, as Christmas draws near, to turn my gift-giving inclinations toward Christ. That's why we give gifts at Christmastime anyway, right? To help us remember the gift of a baby two thousand years ago. And to point out the gift His life was to us.

I wrote this poem a few years ago to start a Christmas Eve tradition with our kids. The idea was to sit around the tree, after the food and festivities were done, and think of a gift we could give to our Savior. The gift could be giving up a favorite vice, developing a particular virtue, or doing something more service oriented. In the end, it should be something we could focus on for the coming year that would make us better people and bring us closer to Christ.

It's been a great tradition. Over the years, I've grown and learned a lot as a result of my Christmas gifts.

A Christmas Gift

It's Christmas time again.

A time of giving and cheer.

You've bought gifts for friends and family,

but what for your Savior this year?

A gift for One so special

can't be found in any store.

To give of yourself to others

for Him means so much more.

So tonight as you remember

and think of the Babe so small,

ponder gifts you can give others

that cost no money at all.

Write them down on paper, 

and seal them up so tight.

Then put them under your tree

upon this Christmas Eve night.

Now your job is to remember

and give of yourself all year

as your Christmas gift to the Savior

brings to others hope and good cheer.