The holiday season is just around the corner. I overheard someone talking the other day about Christmas shopping. Arg. Let's just leave that right there for now.... But it did make me think. Have you ever received a really terrible gift? One year for Christmas I bought my mom a musical coffee mug. Every time you lifted it up it played Christmas music. This was a terrible gift because (a) my mom did not drink coffee and (b) every time you lifted it up it played Christmas music. The dogs kept knocking it over while it was wrapped and under the tree and music would come from out of nowhere.
What's a person to do when they receive a bad gift? If you're a mother and your wonderful middle daughter has spent her very own money on a musical mug I think you just accept it and wait for the day when said mug "mysteriously disappears". But there are some bad gifts you don't have to accept...
I love what my good friend Jennifer Patrick says about not accepting bad gifts from others. Comments, opinions and criticisms that we are all going to hear about ourselves at one point or another, from friends and enemies alike. Jennifer says to think of this sort of feedback as a gift. You either accept it or you don't. Once you've accepted it you have to do something with it. Do you believe in it? Carry it around with you? Let the words change you?
Or do you recognize those words for what they are--a bad gift--and simply say, "No, thank you. I just don't have room something like that right now."
There is great freedom in accepting the grace Christ offers you, not because you are perfect. Not because you may ever get to perfect! But because He loves you, He died for you, and He has a purpose for you.
"Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen." Ephesians 4:29
Anything less is a musical coffee mug for someone who doesn't drink coffee. And you, my friend, simply don't have to accept it.
XOXO....Kelly
*Interested in more life-affirming words for yourself, your friends and family? In a world full of misleading thoughts and "bad gifts" we all need a reminder about where our truth comes from. Contact Jennifer Patrick at jpatrickcomm@sbcglobal.net about hosting a Soul Book Gathering, a unique experience in creating art from the heart and finding your truth!
