It’s time to unwrap your gifts.

BONUS podcast episode - listen here!

With just days until Christmas, if you’re like me, you’re still doing a little bit of shopping and a whole lot of wrapping. As a parent, there’s an anticipation for when our children will take that package I’ve carefully wrapped, tear into the wrapping paper and fling open the box to see what’s inside. Their little faces will light up with wonderment.

The greatest joy is in watching them unwrap their gifts.

But let’s not forget the reason for this season. The gifts we’ve all been given that we get to unwrap on Christmas day and all year round.

1.     The Gift of Hope – The birth of Jesus brought hope to a downtrodden people. It fulfilled a prophecy. A tiny little baby, born in a barn. And who were the first to know? The night guys – the shepherds in the field, watching over the flocks. That’s who God chose to bear witness to his angel declaring the birth of the Savior:

“That night there were shepherds staying in the fields nearby, guarding their flocks of sheep. Suddenly, an angel of the Lord appeared among them, and the radiance of the Lord’s glory surrounded them.” – Luke 2:8-9

Think about that … if Jesus was born into our world today, perhaps the first to know would be the guys or gals working the night shift in your maternity pen at the dairy!

2.     The Gift of Faith – Through Jesus’s life, death and resurrection, we can stand in the faith that salvation is there for us. Each and every one of us, when we surrender our lives to Jesus.

3.     Your own God-given Gifts – The gifts of hope and faith are for all of us. But YOU, my friend, have been given your own unique gifts. Gifts that are intended for you to play your part in serving the Kingdom of God, for His glory. This is beyond your strengths, colors or enneagram number – these are your spiritual gifts. Gifts like discernment, service, wisdom, healing, prophecy and more.

It took me quite a while to unwrap my own gifts, but I’ve come to see that the gift God gave me is to offer encouragement to others to build their own faith. And that’s the deep-seeded purpose of Uplevel Dairy. I’m unwrapping this gift to share it with you today.

So what’s your gift? If you haven’t discovered it yet, that’s okay. Here’s a place to start: https://therealyou.org/

If you know your gift but haven’t fully unwrapped it, now is the time to tear into the package and open it up.

Because of all the gifts you can give, the greatest gift to those around you is in sharing and allowing to shine who God made you to be.

 Merry Christmas, and God bless!