There was a humorous episode of Seinfeld about “regifting”, the practice of taking a somewhat less desirable gift you have received, keeping it new in the box, and then giving it away to someone else. In the episode, various people re-gift and get caught doing it because people either recognize the gift or tell the original gift-giver what they just received. A re-gift is kind of like a white elephant gift, although the idea is not to stick someone else with a useless gift, but rather to divest yourself of something YOU didn’t really want or need in the first place. And hey, the original giver will never know, right? (Although in Seinfeld, everyone finds out and it’s pretty funny.)
What goes Around…
You hate to think that the gift you picked out for someone and hoped they would enjoy would become the object of regifting! You also hate to receive a re-gifted item, right? The whole thing is awkward because it involves rejecting and reusing a gift, and in a small circle of friends it can prove that “what goes around, comes around!”
Well, the Apostle Paul had another take on that, and it’s worth considering: “There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work. Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good.” (1 Corinthians 12:4-7, NIV)
Everybody likes to get gifts! They are a small mystery, wrapped in festive paper. We weigh them, shake them, and hold them in our hands with delicious anticipation. We get to take a moment to savor them and wonder what they are. Gifts are a way that someone says, “You are special”, and who doesn’t like to hear THAT more often?
The Reason for Gifts
Here in 1 Corinthians 12, Paul says that EVERY ONE of us has been given gifts: “the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.” In yet another small way, the Christian life flips conventional wisdom upside down: we are not given gifts to enjoy selfishly, we are given gifts to BENEFIT OTHERS. Paul compares us as members of the Church to a body, where every part plays a role in its health and function, and where every one of us matters.
As humans, we tend to exalt certain spiritual gifts (up-front stuff like teaching, preaching, or leading worship) and minimize others (behind-the-scenes stuff, like administering, or serving); but every part of the body contributes, and every part shares equally in the accomplishments and edification of the whole. (And yes, that means that the guy who sets up chairs, and the woman who greets folks at the door are just as important as the Preacher in God’s eyes…)
If you haven’t discovered your Spiritual gift(s), then do some study, get some wise counsel, and identify what God has given you. Usually, a good indicator is when other believers feel blessed by something you do. If it edifies someone else, it is a spiritual gift. If it results in self-importance, or pride, or ego inflation, then chances are it’s not. Then it’s time to apply the regifting principle. Once you think you know about God’s gift, you have a re-gifting assignment every day: Open your gift. Give it away. It’s what gifts are for.
Regifting
There are occasions when everyone’s hopin’
That there are some presents which they get to open!
I see all the gifts wrapped up under the tree,
And I always hope some are wrapped up there for ME!
But Paul had a much different take on the season:
He said that we each receive gifts for a reason.
Our gifts are not given for fun, or for play,
But we get them so we can go give them away.
Paul said that spiritual gifts are uplifting,
And those kinds of gifts are ok for regifting!
Discover your spiritual gifts and then shift them
Because they’re designed so that you can re-gift them!
To buy my latest book, Real People, Real Christmas: Thirty-one Days Discovering the Hidden Treasures of the Christmas Story, go here: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1729034918/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
For Slaying Giants: Thirty Days with David, go here: https://www.amazon.com/Slaying-Giants-Thirty-Devotions-Ordinary/dp/172568327X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1535814431&sr=8-1&keywords=Slaying+Giants%3A+Thirty+Days+With+David
To buy my book, Beggar’s Bread, go here: https://www.amazon.com/Beggars-Bread-Devotions-Ordinary-Guy/dp/1535457392/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1473336800&sr=8-1&keywords=Beggar%27s+Bread
For the Kindle Edition, go here: https://www.amazon.com/Beggars-Bread-Bo-Jackson-ebook/dp/B01K5Z0NLA/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1473336800&sr=8-2&keywords=Beggar%27s+Bread
