Do We GIVE for the Right Reasons?

What does the Christmas season mean to you? Is it giving or getting? Think about this. 

I remember throughout my childhood my parents bringing home names of families who needed gifts for Christmas and us picking them out and then sending it to them. I remember these moments and how happy the families were when we dropped them off. I also remember though my attitude towards these experiences. I didn't think negatively of the experience, but I was just indifferent. I didn't truly understand what was going on or why we did it, because in my mind everyone lived a life like mine. 

Fast forward to 2017. I am in my car with my friend Kat about to drop off gifts to a family in need for Christmas. I signed up to do this for Christmas, but did it not for the kind service, but just as a way to get out of the house and hang out with a friend. After knocking on the door of this particular home several times, a woman and a her daughter opened the door and took the bag of goodies we had for them. The woman had a smile on her face. I had a smile on my face as well, but still, felt indifferent of the situation. The little girl as we were about to walk away handed me a piece of paper and a bag of popcorn and then went back inside to her home. 

On our drive back home, I opened the piece of paper that was given to me and read the sweetest letter written by this little girl. She was very grateful that Santa had sent us to her family this year and that she hoped we too had a great Christmas. My heart stopped for a second and I began to cry because of this gift that was given to me. But here's the thing...

I only began to feel emotions about this experience AFTER something was GIVEN to me. The act of giving throughout the years gave me indifferent feelings. This particular experience of GETTING made me have emotions. And that is when my attitude totally changed. I realized that only by GETTING something did I feel an emotion, and that GIVING to others was seen more of as a task or a service. 

I wonder how many of us feel this way when we GIVE to others. What are our motives? What are our reasons? Are we giving service and helping others for a positive emotion to be given to us? Are we hoping for a positive reaction from our family and friends? And worse, are we hoping to be validated somehow by the people we have helped?

So hopefully throughout this Christmas season we can ponder why we are giving and we can make sure that we are doing it for the right purposes. 

What are your thoughts on giving? We would love to know! Also, don't forget, our 12 Days of Christmas sale is going on so make sure you grab some amazing books at killer prices!