Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice.

Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you.   Ephesians 4:31-32 NASB

We all get that Christmas present that we look at and wonder how long we must wait before we re-gift it or if it’s that bad, just throw it away. The ugly sweater gift has become so common that now people have ugly sweater contests at parties. So, if you got an ugly sweater don’t be so quick to throw it away.

But today, I want to ask you a question. What is the best gift that you have ever received? I am sure that somewhere in the back of your mind, you have a gift that was your favorite. Now I want you to think about the gift of salvation that we have all received from our Heavenly Father. Have you done anything with that gift? Or, did you throw it in your closet and forget about it? Perhaps you thought that you might use it someday, but just not now. Maybe you like the concept of the gift but feel that you would have to give up too many of the things that you love to do. Maybe you think that this gift would just get in your way of having fun with your friends.

My friend if you have turned your nose up at the gift of salvation, then please know that you are grieving the Holy Spirit. Our scripture passage says that the Holy Spirit is who has sealed us for the day of redemption. So, today, I encourage you to openly accept the most wonderful gift that has ever been given, the gift of salvation. This gift allows us entry into an eternity in glory with God the Father. The gift offers us guidance and protection here on earth. This gift helps us to get through the trials and tribulations that we will face in life. This gift allows us to walk through the fire undamaged and will part the seas so that we may walk through on dry land.

But our scripture passage today is very clear, once you receive this gift you must give up things like anger, bitterness, clamor (fighting), and slander (speaking bad things about other people). Once you receive this gift you should focus on things above (Philippians 4:8-9). You must be kind, tender-hearted, and forgiving just as God is with you. Think about this, what if God refused to forgive you for even one of your sins? What if there was one sin that God just said, “Nope, I refuse to forgive you”? Well, you would be in a pickle, wouldn’t you? But God doesn’t do that, he freely forgives us if we earnestly repent and confess our sins to Him.  He expects us to do the same for others.

My question today is this, will you receive the gift that God so graciously gave to all mankind over 2.000 years ago? Will you accept His one and only begotten Son as your Lord and Savior? If you accept this gift, you must be prepared to throw things like anger and bitterness, fighting, and slander in the garbage. You must be prepared to put on things like being tender-hearted, forgiving, and kind to your fellow man.

So, the choice is yours. You can toss the most precious gift ever given in the back of your closet like the ugly sweater or you can accept it and embrace it as the best gift you could ever receive. This gift can change your whole life for the better, but will you accept it? The choice is yours.

Have a great day!