By Sarah Koch

Have you ever regifted a gift? (Don’t be embarrassed! We have all done it!) Regifts are usually unwanted gifts that you might pull out for a white elephant exchange as a joke.

Sometimes we keep a stash of unopened “rejects” for use in an emergency when we realize we need to reciprocate a gift to someone not on our shopping list.

In my family, we’ve passed around a gaudy leather rooster wine decanter for decades after the ugly gift was unveiled one gift exchange in a desperate Christmas Eve shopping attempt. It seems to get uglier every time it gets passed on and always brings a laugh.

I think that God smiled when we named a skill or talent a “gift” in English. It really is a gift that originates from God.

Have you ever thought about the fact that we are actually regifting our God-given talents and abilities when we use them? God doesn’t want our gifts to stay wrapped in a closet and unused. Our gifts come from God and were meant to be shared!

So, regift your gifts with boldness and joy! Share His love by using your gifts! This is the best regift ever!

This month’s study text:

Made Alive in Christ
2 As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, 2 in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. 3 All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath. 4 But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5 made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. 6 And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, 7 in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. 8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast. 10 For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

Ephesians 2:1-10 (NIV)

Reflection:
Think of a talent you have been given that you can share with others this week. Don’t be embarrassed to regift your gifts! God wants it that way!

Activity:
Discuss with the people around you the gifts God has given you. Remind your family or friends about the gifts you see in them that they may not realize they have.

Prayer:
Thank you, God, for the gifts you have given me to share with others. Help me to remember to use those gifts to your glory. Amen.