We’d probably tend to agree that a gift, in order to truly be a gift, has to be freely given. No strings attached, as the saying goes. The moment something is given with any other motive than the pure joy of giving, it becomes something else. The delight at being able to tangibly express the love you feel can be as much of a gift to the giver as it is to the receiver. 

But what about the other side of the coin? Does it matter how we receive what is freely given? Have you ever noticed that the most treasured gifts are the ones that we, as recipients, have attached certain strings of meaning to? Some memory, some shared experience, some touching aspect of the gift gives it its value to us. Clearly, the issue isn’t just the gift, but whether we recognize and are grateful for the love that prompted it.

There’s a really powerful example of this in the Bible. The story is of an encounter Jesus had with ten people who were all suffering from leprosy, a disease believed to be highly infectious and incurable. In order to make sense of this account, we first have to understand that Jesus himself was the ultimate freely given gift. When the Bible says, “God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son,” there’s no reluctant qualifier added to the gift. Because “God so loved the world,” God freely gave His Son “that the world through him might be saved” (John 3:16, 17). This divine healing and saving effect was the Christ, and wherever Jesus showed up, this gift of God’s power was felt in the Savior’s every word and action.