Many companies take Christmas as a time of the year to give.  They give Christmas cards and some send little or big gifts to their clients.

I have heard you should send gifts proportionate to how much they spend. Others say you should send the same gift to all of them.  Still others say, have a party and only give gifts to those who come.

No matter what your policy is, do you consider Christ in your giving?

What if every business sent really nice Bible’s to all of their clients?  Would that make an impact?

What if every business sent salvation pamphlets in their Christmas cards?  Would that make a difference?

Christ is the whole reason for Christmas.  It is not about gifts, although there is nothing wrong with giving gifts.  We just must consider what kind of message we are sending.

If we send brownies, wine, gift cards, etc. what message are we sending to our clients?

And, if everyone is expecting a gift, then you are competing for attention with everyone. We miss the point of giving when we do it at times that people expect it.

We don’t want to be put in a pile of, “Oh look, another fruitcake.”  We want to stand out and really show appreciation for the INDIVIDUAL we are sending a gift.

I want you to reframe gift giving.  Instead of thinking about what your company can give to another company, ask what you can give another individual with consideration.  Look at their personal social media.  What are they interested in?  What values do they have?  How can you match up what you give with the message the Christ came to save mankind and we celebrate that at Christmas?

Let’s play out a scenario.  Let’s say you find out that a good client of yours named Don has just adopted a dog from a rescue shelter.  You know that he cares about animals.  With further digging, you see that his Mom passed away almost a year ago and he got married two years ago.   His life situations have changed considerably over the last year.

Now ask yourself two questions:

• What kind of gift should I give Don?
• How can I make Christ important?

The gift you send would depend on how well you actually know Don.  Is he a believer?  Is he struggling?  Is your friendship close or distant?

When you know who you are sending to, why you are giving the gift and have a strong relationship with the client, your gift will outshine all others.  That individual will feel your love and the love of Christ coming through a carefully thought out gift.