The Real Gift of Christmas Is the Joy of Giving

Christmas teaches us lots of lessons, and one of the most important lessons it teaches us is that love involves giving. It’s the act of giving that makes Christmas special. Of course, the Christmas trees, the lights, the snow, the Santa, and the whole Christmas aura are amazing, but the spirit of giving is above everything else. When we give a gift, no matter how big or small, it tells the other person that they matter to us. And that’s what love is, to make the other person realize that they are dear to our hearts. Gifts play a huge role in this realization.

Yes, we can express our love via words too, but as actions prove our intentions more than words alone can, that’s what shows the significance of gift-giving. Christmas is all about giving, not just to our loved ones but also to strangers, such as the homeless. This is also a form of love, a love for humanity. But love, regardless of its type, involves giving. On Christmas, that giving is often in the form of gifts.

Giving, however, is just one part of the process, the other is receiving. To receive is to accept the love someone chooses us to offer. But giving remains supreme because that’s the starting point; this is what begins the journey.

While receiving is what completes the journey, an incomplete journey is better than a journey that never began. It means if someone refuses our love, the gift we give, the act still matters. It matters because making an effort to give means understanding the true spirit of Christmas and bringing it to life.

This Christmas, let us all give what we have. Let’s share even if it is just one slice of bread, a dollar, or a warm coat, whatever it is.

And if you think there is no one to whom you can give, it is not right. You can go to orphanages and give to little kids who long for kindness. You can go to old age homes and give to the elderly, waiting for their families to visit them for years.

Or you can go to the homeless shelters and cut your Christmas cake among those who have lost their homes so that they too can become part of your Christmas celebrations. No matter in which way you celebrate, no matter with which thing or things you celebrate, if you can share that, if you can make an effort to give, regardless of how little you think it is, it can mean the world to the other person.

Christmas gives us the opportunity to be big-hearted, to think of others, to care, to love, to give, and to add value to their lives. Because those who add value matter, and that’s what Christmas is about, to add value by giving what we can.