1018) Do you remember Christmases from your childhood? How did your family distribute and open gifts? Did everyone just go right to it, grabbing these packages with their name on them and opening them immediately, or was it more structured?

After the gifts were opened, did everyone look at what the others received? Was there a time of ingratitude when one child makes a comment that he/she liked the gift (s) that someone else received better than what they did? I’ve seen these things happen at gift exchanges with my students at school.

When one complains about a gift they got (or didn’t get), it is really ingratitude that is aimed at God. After all, in 1 Corinthians 12:1-11, Paul tells us it is God who gives us our gifts and even though this passage is referring to spiritual gifts, the same is true with anything God gives us.

All the gifts we have, spiritual and otherwise, are from God and because he placed our name on the labels, we are responsible for opening the gift (discovering what gifts God has given) and then using them fully.

What gifts have your name on them?