A gift certificate is an unopened item given to an individual usually without the intention of exchange or payment. Generally, an unopened gift is not a valid gift even if the one who receives it already owns the item. However, even when a gift certificate is opened, this does not mean that the recipient owns the gift. Although the gift-giver’s expectation of repayment may be involved, generally gift-giving is intended to be purely free.
Sometimes people also give gifts to other people who they know. For example, you may give business cards to your friends and colleagues. These are called promotional gifts because they help you promote your business. Similarly, you may give gifts to customers whom you would like to keep your customers happy.
The most common practice is to send gifts during Christmas and New Year period. While most of us do send gifts for all the persons whom we know and love, there are some customs and traditions that we follow. Some people prefer to send flowers and small gifts to their friends and families. On the other hand, some others like to send expensive and exclusive gifts. It is true that most of us pay a considerable amount of money to enjoy these customs and traditions and if you wish to save money on Christmas gift giving, you should adopt these practices.
In the early days, gifts were mostly things like grain, seeds, animals, fruits, vegetables, nuts, wines and oil. There was no separate category for spiritual gifts. In fact, many of the gifts given to Romans appeared to be very materialistic. For instance, many of them gave potteries made of precious stones, jars of olive oil and spices. Therefore, the first Christians criticized the Roman gifts given as being of a low quality and poor spiritual value.
However, gradually as time passed by, the church fathers gave a different view on spiritual gifts and accepted certain categories like prophecy, revelation, visions etc. They also accepted other category like toys and clothes etc. Though there are many categories of gifts to choose from, yet the important thing that one should remember is that the gifts should be from the heart. In other words, your gifts should be something that reflects your emotions, sentiments and personality.
In the New Testament book the book of 1 Corinthians 13, we read about a situation when Paul, being in prison with his brother Barnabas had to pass through a prison to the prison of Jerusalem. In this prison, there had been a severe debate between the followers of Jesus and the sect of the Gentiles, which was led by John the Baptist. John the Baptist had been a chief detractor of Christ and had thrown stones at His feet. But later on, after being forgiven by Christ, he was converted to the right path and became a great prophet and teacher.
Here, Barnabas again had to pass through a jail where he had to give a message of the Kingdom of God to a woman named blasphemy, for John the Baptist was the chief judge of that area. He had to give a revelation of the coming Kingdom of God through his interpreter, tongue or mouth, and he had to translate into Greek for the people of Jerusalem who needed interpreters to understand the Scriptures. But, Barnabas did not translate the Scriptures for the people, he interpreted only for himself. It was through the gift of prophecy, that he was able to do this work.
There are many other gifts but the most important among them all, is the gift of prophecy. This is the ability to foretell things, both future and present. It is the most powerful gift and yet the least utilized by the churches. The churches must make use of these gifts so that they can bring the true light of the everlasting Gospel into their homes and lives.