Take time to appreciate the gifts given to you

Q: I don’t mean to be ungrateful but when my family gives me gifts, they are things I can’t use or don’t want. Is it wrong to ask for something specific, like a gift card, so that I can buy what I want? — G.C.

A: Have you ever thought about what a gift really is? The giver initiates the gift. Often the giver chooses the gift with a specific purpose in mind. Many grandparents will give stocks and bonds to build up college funds for their grandchildren. The young often do not appreciate such gifts at the time. Then there are givers who may want to teach the value of a gift. While it is important to give a gift that will be meaningful to the recipient, the receiver should carefully consider the giver’s intent.

You might be shocked to learn that Americans are sitting on $30 billion in unused gift cards — gifts never redeemed! Numerous laws govern the booming gift-card business, and customers are often warned to check the issuer’s redemption policy. Some cards must be redeemed by an expiration date. One online store specifies that to redeem a gift card for certain items, holders “must save the gift card … to their account. Who would think that there would be so many strings attached to redeeming a gift? Yet the industry is flourishing.

Redemption is a word filled with hope and promise and involves a giver and a receiver. A gift is based on another’s sacrifice and is rarely shunned by the one to whom it is offered. But there are those who say “no thanks.” This is how many respond to the gift God has offered to mankind — the saving grace that redeems souls. Don’t be that person who rejects God’s indescribable gift (2 Corinthians 9:15).