Gift Giving Stress

My post on Thursday was about Christmas being about giving. However, as a reader pointed out, the most stressful part of Christmas for many is gift buying. Most of us don't have an unlimited amount of money to spend and want our loved ones to have a nice Christmas and not be disappointed.

I have several thoughts:

1. Remember that God has promised to provide for you and He is in charge. He has given us what we need, even for Christmas gifts. Philippians 4:19--But my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory.
2. Pray about gift ideas, for God to stretch your budget and to help you find sales for what you need. Matthew 7:7--Ask and it shall be given, seek and ye shall find, knock and it shall be opened unto you. I love how this verse even includes seek and ye shall find, I don't think the context is Christmas shopping, but you can claim the verse for this.
3. Ask yourself what your motive is--love or pride. Often times, pride comes in, we don't want others to think our gift is cheap, not as fancy as theirs, shows we have a limited budget, etc.
4. Be content with your budget, no matter how small.
5. Remember that we often worry (which is a sin) about what others will think of our gift (pride) and really, they are just happy to have been remembered.
6. Also, I don't know anyone who would want their friends or family to be stressed about what to get them! If you have someone who would want you to be stressed, I recommend taking them off the list completely. :o)
7. Remember that when we get stressed about Christmas, we are losing sight of the real meaning of Christmas--God's gift of love for us!
8. Remember that there are often seasons in people's lives--there are times when you may struggle financially and someone else gets to be the blessing and times when the roles will be reversed.
9. Remember that the person we need to please is the Lord, not others. He asks us to rely on Him and He will do the rest. I think it makes Him really sad when we get stressed about Christmas.
10. Read Matthew 6:25-34. I think He includes Christmas in this passage. :o)

Inexpensive gift ideas:

1. Coupons to do something for them--could be raking leaves, babysitting, bringing them a meal, etc.
2. Buy something small and then make a special card or find a way to make it special just for them. You could include a note about how this made you think of them and why.
3. Buy one gift for the whole family--like a game.