How do you feel about regifting? Through the years, it has become one of those issues where people take definitive sides, either in support of or against. Few are truly neutral. Consider some of the most recent statistics on the issue.
- 89% of respondents have received a (regifted) present, with siblings and friends being the most common recipients (both at 39%). Partners and coworkers also receive regifted presents, at 38% and 34%, respectively.
- Drink products are the most frequently regifted items, with 39% of recipients having regifted … tea or coffee sets. Beauty products like perfume and makeup come second (35%), followed closely by food (34%) and toiletries (27%) as popular regift choices.
- The primary motivations for regifting are convenience (38%) and environmental benefits (37%), followed by cost savings (30%). 72% of respondents plan to regift this year, with 53% more likely to do so due to the cost-of-living crisis.1
- In California alone, it is expected that $1.3 billion worth of Christmas presents will be regifted this year.2
- This is the time of year when you know you will receive new things, therefore givers justify regifting as a way to make space.
- And let’s not forget all the Christmas parties complete with white elephant gift exchanges. Those can get pricey if you must attend too many.
Those opposed to regifting typically have noble reasons for their feelings. They believe regifting shows ingratitude for a gift. They feel that regifting is pawning off items you don’t like to someone else. What does that say about how you feel about the other person?!? Naturally, there is the fear that your regifting maneuver will be discovered by the original giver. Now, that’s embarrassing!
Laying aside your personal thoughts on regifting, let me suggest something that maybe we’ve never thought of before. ANY giving we do is technically regifting.
1 Timothy 6:17 says, “Charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not highminded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy.” The verse tells us plainly that God gives us everything. So, whenever we give someone a gift, didn’t we regift what God had given us? Even if it was purchased in a store, God gave us the money to buy the gift, therefore we are still regifting.
And the Lord seems to love the idea of regifting. 1 Timothy 6:18 continues the thought from the previous verse. “That they do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to distribute, willing to communicate.” This is supported by Ephesians 4:28 which says, “Let him that stole steal no more: but rather let him labour, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth.” God gives to us so that we can give to others. That is a parental thing to do.
I remember going to Sunday School as a little kid. Dad or mom would give me some change to put in the little church piggy bank. I gave as if it came from me but, technically, I was regifting. And, even more technically, I was re-regifting because God gave to my parents, my parents gave to me, and I gave to the church. Wherever the offering was sent, the Sunday School class re-re-regifted the original gift.
If you’re unsure about regifting a present or the thought of regifting makes you feel cheesy and sleazy, examine your heart’s motive behind giving it. When we give something special to us that we know someone else would enjoy, we call that “blessing” them. Different term but the same concept because our heart was right. It always goes back to the heart, doesn’t it?
Whatever gifts we give, let’s always remember to thank God for giving to us. James 1:17 reminds us, “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.”
1https://freedomaware.com/gift-industry-statistics/
2https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/general/about-1-3-billion-worth-of-christmas-gifts-may-end-up-being-regifted-or-resold/ar-AA1wvNqA
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