When you can't give... receive?

Have you ever received a gift and told the giver "you shouldn't have?"  Have you ever been embarrassed because you brought something to the potluck that looked terrible compared to everything else at the table? Have you ever shown up to an event underdressed and the host welcomed you in joyfully without even mentioning it?

I used to resent people with so much wealth that their generosity felt like a show.  It made my skin crawl.

"Ugh, look at them... do they really need to be giving away all that?  Such show-offs."

What the real issue was was I was comparing myself to those people and finding what I had to offer them was laughable.  I would never be able to give the kind of gifts they could.

Good Friday is lit with new meaning for me each year, but one meaning shines through, always: I have been given a gift that I could never repay. What I bring to the table is small and I am hopelessly underdressed for the occasion of life everlasting. Still, I am welcome because the Host of the party loves me unconditionally.

Knowing I can never match His gift, I am freed to sit back and enjoy love. Gratefulness radiates in me today... may it always.