This past Thursday was a national celebration of a dubious nature. It was National Re-Gifting Day. Colorado governor, Bill Ritter, Jr, made National Re-gifting Day official in 2008.1 And I’m not quite sure how I feel about that.
Let’s start by defining it. Re-gifting is simply taking a gift that was given to you and giving it to someone else. How many people do this? USNews writes, “A 2023 Magestore survey found that 56.6% of Americans planned on regifting or donating unwanted winter holiday presents.”2
Why would someone re-gift? The reasons given are less than noble. Magestore.com says that …
- 41% re-gift items they consider to be “useless.”
- 27% say the gift doesn’t fit my taste or interest so they pass it off to someone else.
- 64% say the gift was inconvenient.
- 27% say that they received this same gift last year.
- 81% say that the gift reminds them of a bad experience.3
According to the same article, the least favorite gifts among women are liquor or drinks, while men’s least favorite gifts are beauty products. I can understand this. If someone gave me a tube of lotion from Bath and Body with some froufrou girly scent, I would pass it off immediately to my wife. I have no desire to get sideways glances because I smell so pretty!
I guess my biggest hang-up about re-gifting is the fact that when we give gifts, we ought to give our best and give thoughtfully. Using others as a repository for our unwanted throwaways just doesn’t seem to have the right spirit behind giving. It also seems to be a cheap thing to do.
Now, I’m sure there are legitimate and thoughtful ways that we can re-gift so if you are a re-gifter and getting annoyed with me the more you read, please take a deep breath and relax. I’m sure all re-gifting isn’t done with the wrong intent. In fact, some re-gifting is done with great care, giving something that doesn’t fit your personal tastes to someone who would absolutely be thrilled with the gift. That’s a good way to re-gift.
Let’s take this thought of re-gifting and apply it to something more spiritual. At salvation, we received the greatest gift ever! It’s a gift that we cannot re-gift or return. Even if we wanted to pass the gift along to someone else, it’s not possible.
As Paul grieved over his fellow Israelites’ rejection of Jesus as Messiah, he lamented in Romans 9:1-3, “I say the truth in Christ, I lie not, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Ghost, (2) That I have great heaviness and continual sorrow in my heart. (3) For I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh.” He says, “I wish that I could give up my gift of salvation and be condemned to hell forever if only my kinsmen would believe. But I can’t. I can’t re-gift my salvation.”
Salvation cannot be re-gifted. It is a gift offered to all on the basis of God’s grace and received through faith. It is a gift that an individual must receive for themselves directly and personally from the original giver of the gift, Jesus Christ.
Hopefully, each person reading this can say that they have received that gift. Aren’t you thankful that the gift cannot be taken from us or even relinquished?
John 10:27-29 reminds us of this truth. “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: (28) And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. (29) My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand.”
1https://www.nationaldaycalendar.com/national-day/national-re-gifting-day-thursday-before-christmas
2https://money.usnews.com/money/personal-finance/saving-and-budgeting/articles/an-etiquette-guide-to-regifting
3https://www.magestore.com/blog/christmas-unwanted-gifts/
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