One of the best gifts you could give during
this Christmas Season is the gift of gratitude for the things that those
around you are already doing for you.
Sometimes we have difficulty
expressing gratitude for those things that mean the very most to us such as:
Ø
A loving, understanding ear in times of confusion or distress,
Ø
Encouragement and Trust
Ø
Acceptance and Approval
Ø
Devotion and Loyalty
Ø
Respect and Admiration
Ø
Reassurance and Comfort
Instead, we tend to take these
things for granted. After a time, it is falsely understood that we do not
value them and they are dropped from the relationship for more seemingly
important, or tangible accomplishments.
Our open gratitude for these
attributes helps to assure their continuance because it offers the giver a
feeling of accomplishment that is needed in order to continue sacrificing in
the relationship.
Consider writing these feelings
of gratitude out and reviewing and revising them until it expresses your true
heart of love. Then print them out on some attractive stationery and present
it to the one that you care for.
Express gratitude for the
monetary and service contributions that your partner consistently makes. These
are also easy to be taken for granted and instead, problem areas become the
focus.
The Scripture says that open
rebuke is better than secret love. To keep our love a secret, or to fail to
express it in a proper manner is worse than an open rebuke.
It is a strong possibility that
a gift of your loving expression, though of no monetary value, would be the
most valued gift your loved one could receive. Consider framing and wrapping
it for even more impressive impact.
Be sincere and resist the
temptation to modify your gift by adding corrective measures that you wish
they would engage in to further your appreciation. J
A
Time to Give