God's Free Gifts

God has given humans these free gifts: understanding, joy, and hope.

Understanding    

Understanding is spiritual wisdom, which gives humans an awareness of the true self, with its mental connection to God and to other human beings. This self-awareness, an inner longing to have a better relationship with God and with others, requires quality time, deliberate effort, and right doing. Understanding is everything in everyday life and living. But is understanding readily accessible and attainable? Yes!

“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened to you.” Matthew 7:7

Joy

Joy comes from not feeling hopeless. 

Hope

Hopefulness is hope out of hopelessness. God's presence provides humans with patience and perseverance to wait for their hopefulness. 

Free Will

God’s free gifts come with free will—which means humans have their freedom of choice to receive or to refuse the free gifts from God. Their freedom is based on their faith, trust, and obedience.

Faith

Faith is belief in the existence and the presence of God. Believing in God means obeying His Commandments with accountability. Faith is evidenced in all human actions: yes, actions speak louder than words.

Trust

Trusting God means believing in the veracity of His Word.

“so is my word that goes out from my mouth:

It will not return to me empty,

but will accomplish what I desire 

and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.” Isaiah 55:11

Trusting God is letting go of control of anything and everything happening in this world, including the destinies of all humans.

“He says, ‘Be still, and know that I am God.

I will be exalted among the nations.

I will be exalted in the earth.’” Psalm 46:10

Obedience

Obedience is doing the right and the righteous things in everyday life. This daily task is the most difficult, if not impossible. Why? It’s because all humans are in their flesh with their inclination and their propensity to choose their wrongdoings, due to the sins of man in the flesh.

According to the Scripture, Adam and Eve’s disobedience to God began humans’ departure from God’s way to begin their own way of sin and brokenness.

^“16 And the Lord God commanded the man, ‘You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; ¹⁷ but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.’” Genesis 2: 16-17

But it must be noted that "moral evil" from the freedom to choose did not come from God. Quite the contrary, the goodness of God is to make humans’ wrongs right again someday in Jesus’ Salvation.

The Bottom Line

Have you received the free gifts of understanding, joy, and hope from God? Or have you rejected those gifts due to your preference for "not" choosing faith, trust, and obedience?  

Living by faith: God gives all believers His "free gifts", but the freedom to accept or reject them is up to individuals.  

Stephen Lau