Give and receive gifts with a cheerful heart

"Each must decide in your heart to give. And don't give reluctantly or in response to pressure, 'for God loves a person who gives cheerfully.'"

- 2 Corinthians 9: 7 (NLT).

My friend's heart was broken when the gift she gave was not well received.

Sometimes gift giving is easy, but other times, especially when it comes to gifting someone new, it can be difficult. If we understood some of the reasons people should or do give, it may make it easier to give and receive with a right heart attitude.

Giving gifts is as old as time. Ancient cultures used to give gifts to visitors when they left as a remembrance of the visit - kind of like giving party favors to guests today.

We also do it when we buy a souvenir or postcard while vacationing.

Gifts are often used to express celebrations and other sentiments of love. This can be anything from a shiny diamond ring to a simple token that says "I love you."

I remember as a young schoolgirl making a paper basket, held together with staples, and filling it with flowers I picked from a nearby field to give to my mother for May Day.

Years later, my son came home from school one day with a name tag he made me. It consisted of toothpicks glued together with alphabet noodles glued on top spelling my name. A safety pin glued on the back was a fastener.

Some parents might have viewed it as a nothing special, but my heart melted as I held the tiny token of love in my hand. I remember commenting how he even spelled my name right, placing 2 "e's" at the end! I still have it to this day, tucked away in my corner curio cabinet.

Like a modern day registry list, over the years I've kept a personal list of my own. It's good to know what specific things people like or want when selecting a gift for them. It can make the present personal. If you don't have this information, you can ask the person or someone close to them. I think about how we used to make a list at Christmas to let our parents know our wishes.

Sometimes people like to have a keepsake from a special moment. I have a friend who loves feathers, and collects them anytime she finds one. Once, she found one on the pew at her church. She placed it in her Bible as a remembrance. Now, each time she finds one she thinks of the verse in Psalm 91 that mentions how God "covers us with His feathers."

God wants us to be inspired to give to others. Gifts can be given any time and place. There doesn't have to be an special event or occasion to give one. They shouldn't be given to bribe or to get our own way. They should be given to meet another's needs, or just simply because we want to. But they should always be given from the heart.

I think receiving graciously is a way we gift back the giver.

I recently heard a Christian neurosurgeon on a TV documentary mention that research on this topic discovered that certain pleasure centers of the brain are touched when we give. He feels God created us this way so that we have a warm feeling when we give to another.

We may not resolve all our gifting dilemmas, but may we discover the blessing of giving and receiving gifts with a cheerful heart.

• Annettee Budzban is a Christian author, speaker, life coach and nurse. She can be contacted at annetteebudzban@aol.com or (847) 543-8413.