Hard to believe it’s that time of year again. From now until Christmas Eve, retailers are vying for the same prize, your hard-earned dollar. In the misguided and too often materialistic focus of the Christmas holiday, it has become too easy to forget the true meaning of Christmas.

Christmas is not about the endless search for the best gift to be opened on Christmas morning. In fact, the true gift of Christmas is not a material thing at all. The true gift of Christmas is a perfect, priceless, gift of love.

What is the true gift of Christmas?

The first Christmas was celebrated over two thousand years ago. A baby boy named Jesus was born and placed in a manger—a feeding trough for animals was his bed. God planned for Baby Jesus, His perfect Son, to be born into this world for a very special and wonderful reason.

Because God loved the world so much and wanted fellowship with us, He made the most selfless, loving and wonderful sacrifice on our behalf that the world will ever know. God sent His only Son, Jesus Christ, who was pure and blameless, to take the punishment that we deserved. Jesus died on the cross to pay the penalty for our sins.

The Bible says, God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us (Romans 5:8).

In the Bible, God makes us a wonderful, hope-filled promise. God promises that whoever believes in Jesus will not die, but will receive the gift of eternal life.

The Bible says, God so
loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life (John 3:16).

This Christmas will you receive the true and most wonderful gift of love by placing your trust in Jesus Christ as your Savior?