God's gift of acceptance

Finding the right gift to give at Christmas can become a challenge. Taking time to find the right gift to give to the right person takes time, thoughtfulness and creativity. We are not alone in our gift giving. God has gifts that he desires to give.

Matthew 1 presents the royal genealogy of Jesus. In Jesus' family story, as in many of our own, there are several colorful characters. Four of the colorful characters are women.

One woman is not identified by name, but as the wife of one man, while the mother of a child by a different man.

Another woman who was known as a prostitute, one whom women pretended to be a prostitute and one found in the place early in the morning where she could have been accused of being a prostitute.

Each of these women not only shares colorful and scandalous backgrounds, but they also share their acceptance by God.

The inclusion of these women in Jesus' published genealogy, particularly when contrasted to the women who could be listed but are not, gives us an insight to God's gift of acceptance. These women were accepted by God despite the backgrounds they had. Also, the circumstances that surrounded their lives did not become a barrier to faith, but the avenue in which faith grew.

Too often I speak with people who think they have to "get things right" before they can have a faith that matters.

The truth is we need faith not for all we get right, but because of all we get wrong.

A second gift of God is transformation. 1 Corinthians 6:11 uses an incredibly powerful phrase: "And such were some of you." On the tail end of a list of immoral deeds, Paul tacks on this phrase. God accepts us as we are, but we do not stay there.

The power of "and such were some of you" is freeing -- freeing for it presents our past in a way that does not define you.

You were this way, but now, because of God who accepts you and works in you, molding you to who He created you to be, you are no longer that way. You were this, but now you're not.

Not many gifts transform our lives. The gifts of God have the power to only when you receive his acceptance and are transformed into whom he has created you to be.