God's Gift For You

When you put your faith in Jesus, you spiritually step across a line. You stop trusting in yourself and start trusting in Jesus; you stop following your own way and start following God’s way. The moment you step across that line and put your faith in Christ, God gives you four major gifts. Here’s what they are:

1. The gift of forgiveness. Guilt weighs you down and makes you miserable, but “even greater is God’s wonderful grace and his gift of forgiveness to many through this other man, Jesus Christ” (Romans 5:15 NLT). When Jesus forgives, he wipes out everything you’ve ever done wrong. It's all forgiven and forgotten.

2. The gift of eternal life. You might call this the gift that keeps on giving—because God has long-range plans for you. Romans 6:23 says, “The wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord” (NLT). You’ll never work, earn, or behave your way into heaven. The only way to heaven is by God’s free gift that you accept by faith.

3. The gift of God’s Spirit. God isn’t just near his followers; his Spirit is inside them. Romans 5:5 says, “He has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love” (NLT). How do you know when you’re letting God’s Spirit live through your life? You will be filled with the fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

4. The gift of special abilities. The Bible calls these special abilities “spiritual gifts.” They’re the abilities you need in order to fulfill the purpose God has planned for you. First Corinthians 12:7 says, “A spiritual gift is given to each of us so we can help each other” (NLT). When you use your spiritual gift, you bless other people; when they use their gifts, they bless you.

Are you a follower of Christ? Then God’s gifts of forgiveness, eternal life, God’s Spirit, and special abilities are yours!