Hello and welcome to another episode of the Family Business Podcast with the Alessis, and I am Steve Alessie, and I'm glad that you are joining us right in the middle of the holidays. I know right about now I have probably already gained about five pounds, and I'm enjoying every minute of it because that's what we do. We eat, we drink, and we are being married as a family. Now it's a little different for us this year because since we have two new in-laws in the family, our kids and young adult kids are enjoying some time on their own. So we're separated for a period of time, but then we're all going to come back together right around New Year's to be able to celebrate together. You know, changes are hard in a family, but they are to be expected. Changes in life are hard, but they are to be expected, especially if you're wanting more. If you want to go higher, uh, you have to anticipate getting comfortable with change because the rut, the old way, the old habits, sometimes they keep you right where you are, and you need to be able to get out of that. So changes are good.
Embrace change. Matter of fact, as we think about 2022, I'm pretty excited about what's going to come around the corner. I mean, it's only, come on, really, it's got to go up from here, right? After all that we've been through with 2020 and 2021, we've been preparing you to think better for 2022. And it should get better. There should be some changes. There should be things that are coming to you in a different way. And I would encourage you to embrace them. That's why I'm pretty excited about even getting ready for episode our season three of our podcast, because we have a bunch of new episodes that we are planning for you about how to start the year off right, how to be processing and preparing for even better and all the changes that are going to come your way. And even as a family, how do you handle the different challenges and seasons of life that will definitely present themselves in the new year? One thing we learned as a family is my gosh, one year can make a big difference. That's right. We had no idea that pretty much within a year's period of time, our daughter Stephanie would get married, and then right on the heels of that, we got a baby coming our way from her. Her husband and her are ready to make some changes. So that's life. Embrace it. 2022 is gonna be a great one. Here's how we're gonna end 2021. We're gonna go ahead and bring you to one of our Sunday podcast environments. It's actually the service environment where we teach and we preach, and we're gonna be bringing you into our platform and allow you to hear a good message that should bring inspiration to you during your holiday season. So stay close to us. Go ahead and subscribe for uh season three of our podcast, share the news with others, and let's start this year off great together. So, right now, enjoy this message that's coming and may it be a blessing to you. Merry Christmas, happy holidays. Well, today, let's just look at this
from the perspective of motivation. How can we give the gift of affirmation? How can we give the gift of grace? How can we give the gift of our treasures to God? People who know people who know what Christmas represents should have a bead right here on the right motivation for giving. And it's really the gift of worship. It's been proven that the happiest people on the earth are people who are givers. It's proven in our health, it's proven in our relationships. People that are giving are happier people. So our place in the Christmas story should always be one of giving. One, we should be happier because of our relationship with God, and two, we should be trying to spread some of that happiness. So we should be people that are focused on giving. But why aren't we? Why is it that some people who know the real reason for the season never really are engaged into giving? Well, maybe it's because they don't have the right motivation. Maybe they don't understand this one gift that we see in the Christmas story. So let's look at that.
The story's found over in Matthew chapter 2. We'll pick it up in verses 1 and 2, and then we'll jump down to verses 9, 10, and 11. It's the story of the wise men. We saw them portrayed here in the beautiful video. And here's what it says in chapter 2, verse 1, it says, After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? So they were looking for royalty here. We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him. King Herod gets involved in all of this and then jump down to verse 9. After they had heard the king, King Herod, that is, they went on their way, and the star they had seen in the east went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary. Now watch the sequence. And they bowed down and worshipped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, of incense, and of myrrh. So here is the first gift-giving opportunity on this day that we celebrate now called Christmas, because of course Christmas is the birth or celebration of the birth of Christ. So it said in verse 11 that there was a certain
sequence that took place in this gift giving. First, it says that they bowed down and they worshiped him. That is the posture of worship. We are low on ourselves, but we are high on God. And then out of that posture, it says, then they opened their treasures and they presented gifts of gold and incense and of myrrh. So worship plays a tremendous part here in this gift-giving story. Because they worshiped Jesus first and then they presented him with gifts. And I would say this: that when it comes to Jesus and our worship of God, it should always be our motivation
behind giving him the gifts. Our worship should be that motivation. Now, Christmas is going to be about gifts, and we understand that. Retailers and online shopping has really survived and thrived during this Christmas holiday. I'd say that FedEx and UPS, they've also thrived during this Christian Christmas holiday because this is the gift-giving opportunity for us as Christmas becomes all about gifts. But for some, Jesus doesn't play any part whatsoever in this celebration. Somehow or other, we're adapting a Christmas without Christ. We see it in the retail industry. You go to the mall and everything's made up for Christmas, but you don't see any pictures of the Christ child. We see school plays going on and it's all about Christmas celebrations. You're going to see what would be a star. You may see animals, you may see Santa Claus, but you don't see Jesus. We've come to a place where Christ has been removed from his own day of celebration. But you and I know better. And because we know better, because we have this understanding and are in a relationship with God, we know that ultimately, this celebration, this holiday, that we're all gonna enjoy, and may we enjoy it to the fullest. We know the reason is because Jesus has become our Savior. I mean, make no doubt about it, folks. This isn't about a baby being born, this is about a savior being given to mankind. See, man had lost his connection with God, and there was no longer a bridge. So God needed to bridge that divide once more. And so he took a part of himself, his own son Jesus, and he brought him here to this earth, born of a woman. Why born of a woman? Because he had to abide by the natural laws that he himself had put into place. So he couldn't send an angel, he had to send a man who would then be the perfect sacrifice for humanity. But that man had to be born. And so Jesus was. And that's why we celebrate Christmas. Because God, never forget, gave us his son. And that's why we have the story of the wise men. Because it's customary that wise men would show up at the birth of royalty. Now, to most, this was just a baby being born in a dirty, stinky manger. But to those in the know, this was royalty being born. And so, all these years later, because they gave gifts on Christmas morning, the day the Christ child was born, we too give gifts to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. I mean, that's pretty good to think that one man's celebration has now produced a bunch of us being able to give gifts to one another. That's pretty good. That's like me and my birthday, and it's wonderful that I can have my birthday. And I would think, okay, it's my birthday, now go ahead and give me gifts. But in Jesus' sense, it's like, now it's my birthday. Why don't you do this? Why don't you give each other gifts too? So let me ask you this. Because we could go ahead and participate in the gift-giving opportunity, let's go back to check our motivation. Why do we give gifts? What is your motivation for gift giving? Well, there's a certain kind of gift that we give,
different kinds, and I like to bring these out at Christmas in my sermons to you. Maybe you've heard this before, but let me describe the different kinds of gifts we give. For instance, number one would be the perfect gift gift. You know what the perfect gift gift is? It's given by the person who really loves you, who listens to you during the year. And when they hear you talk about something on a regular basis, they think to themselves, you know what? I think I want to bless them and give them that. Maybe it was a watch that they heard you talk about. And you were talking about it back in February or March, and they remembered, wow, so-and-so wanted that watch. So they started watching the home shopping network, or they started paying attention to the sales that were going on and saw that they had a great sale on that watch that you wanted. And so they went out and they bought it way before Christmas ever came around. And they brought you that gift and they gave you the perfect gift gift because they really do love you and wanted to see you happy. It's kind of like a gift our family just got from a wonderful family in this church who loves us tremendously. They have heard our girls talk about Hamilton the play, and so it was so outrageously expensive in New York and in Chicago that there was no way that we were gonna put up that kind of money to go watch the play. But they heard it was coming to South Florida, and the other night they called us into the room together, and as a family, they gave us a gift of Hamilton the play coming in January. Let me tell you, that's exciting for people that like Hamilton. I'm going to be an innocent bystander. They tell me I'm gonna cry, so I'm always up for a good cry, and I'm looking forward to going to it. But the joy on not just our family's face that day when they gave us the gift, the joy on that person's face when they gave us the gift was even bigger than the one that we had because they knew what it felt like to give the perfect gift gift. Anybody ever have the perfect gift gift given to you? Anybody? Those are good gifts, aren't they? Here's another kind of gift. It's called the regift gift. Does anybody know what a re-gift gift looks like? These are usually convenience gifts that we give to others or that we have received from others. You see, this convenience gift, it's the I really wasn't thinking of you, as you're really not that important to me, but let me look good. So let me give you a gift, because it may seem like I care for you. That's usually the motivation behind the gift or re-gift gift. We've got those gifts before, haven't we? And we could tell someone re-gifted this gift and gave it to us. I've been a recipient of those kind of gifts before. Any of you? Let me ask you this. How many of you have been givers of a re-gift gift? Oh, you're so honest and you're so sweet to even raise your hand and admit it. But there's a re-gift gift. It doesn't mean that I forgot you. It just means that, hey, uh, this is something I'm probably not going to use. It'll look better for you. So let me go ahead and give you this re-gift gift. There's another kind of gift, it's called the gift for a gift gift. You know what that gift is? The gift for a gift gift. Everybody knows about this gift, really, because we've all been given this gift before. Because here's this routine that we go through. We get a gift from somebody and then try to figure out exactly how much that gift cost. And then we go online to Amazon or go to the mall and we buy a gift right around that same price to give it back to them. That's called a gift for a gift gift. Now, here's the thing about the gift for a gift gift. It's telling us this that the person who gives this gift keeps a long mental picture of what the value of the gift was. It's kind of a tit for a tat gift. You know what I'm talking about? The kind of like, hey, you did me this good, then I'm gonna go ahead and give you that good as well. And this right here feeds the cash registers and fills the malls all with that last minute shopping. Because someone got a gift and they needed to go ahead and even the score. Because nobody can win at this gift-giving opportunity. It's the gift for a gift gift. And then there's another kind of gift is called the gift for a favor gift. That's the kind of gift that's going to give you something today, but they're not gonna ask for anything in return today. But you better believe they're going to get a return on the gift that they gave you. It's kind of like what we do in corporate America. For the owner of the company, we're gonna go ahead and give a gift at the end of the year, but you better believe come March, we're gonna say, Hey, hey, you remember what I did for you? I need you to make sure you're on your game and you're working for me. Come on, show me some appreciation, show me some love, work a little harder, sacrifice a little more. That's what you call the gift for a favor gift. Now, don't raise your hand on this one because I think we've all given the gift for a favor gift before. But here's the point these may be motivators for most gifts that are given. But for the gifts that we bring to God, our motivation has to be worship. You see, these men, they actually came to Jesus, they bowed down before Jesus and then they worshiped him. Only after doing that did they give them their gifts.
And that's now why you and I bring gifts to God. We bring our gifts to God because we worship God. And this gift that we bring to Him isn't just the gift that we give Him one time a year. We bring God these kinds of gifts all throughout the year. Because the gifts we ultimately bring to God are our lives. They're our talents and they are our treasures. But know this about your gifts. It's not a gift until it is given away. I had a couple of motorcycles of a few years ago when I was all into my motorcycle riding, had a nice Harley that brothers in the church blessed me with, and then we picked up a nice bike for Mary, and she and I used to ride together quite a bit. Well, as we got older and temps got hotter in South Florida, we weren't riding our bikes as much anymore. And one of them was just sitting there collecting dust, and I thought, you know, I need to go ahead and sell this thing. So I started to check out what I can get with it, pricing and so forth. And then I was thinking through it, all of a sudden, this guy came to my mind that's in the church. This is a guy who's done a lot of stuff for leadership in this church for myself and for other staff members. He has always been very generous, going above and beyond, being a real blessing. He's also been a blessing to the church. Whenever we need certain things, he was always stepping in to provide those and he would donate it to the tune of good eight to ten thousand dollars at a pop. So this guy was very generous. He was also very loyal. If we needed anything from him, and he had almost served when we'd travel, like he was there in our our travels to Cuba and so forth, he'd be there and he would provide a measure of protection for us. He was like the go-to guy, go before us. He worked things out, and and his his because of all that he had done for us over the years, his picture, his face came to my mind. And I thought, you know what, instead of selling this bike, let me give it to this gentleman. Now I didn't even know if he liked bikes. But somewhere I thought I heard him say something about a motorcycle, and I thought, you know what? Let me let me just connect with him and let him know I have something I want to give him. So I called him up, I said, Hey, you're gonna be home later? He says, Yeah, I said, Great. I got something I want to give you. But I knew I needed to clean it up and I need to get it working. So after I told him that, I I got busy in the garage and I started cleaning the thing up and started it up and needed to go ahead and get some gas drained out of it. And so I was doing all that stuff, and when I was finished, I looked over at that bike and I thought, man, that's a nice looking bike. Now, mind you, I never told him what kind of gift I was gonna give him. You know, they have something called buyer's remorse. You know what that is? What's buyer's remorse? After buying something you think to yourself, shucks, maybe I shouldn't have bought it. They also have givers' remorse. I'm looking at that bike and I'm thinking, you know, I didn't really tell him I was gonna give him the bike. He'll never know. I got another gift I can give him. I mean, a box of cigars works great, right? But then I felt in my heart, are you kidding me? All the blessings this guy has given to us. How can I not bless him with this bike? And sure enough, we made the transaction or gave it to him actually, and his face was all filled with smiles, and it felt so good to be on the other side of giving because for so long this guy was always giving, and it was great to be able to bless him so that he could actually receive. And that's what I'm trying to say when it comes to our gifts that we give, especially the ones we give to God, our gifts will always come with a price, and it's the price of sacrifice. It's David who said, I will not offer God this gift if it doesn't cost me something. That's why the motivation behind any gift that we give to the Lord has to be worship. Because worship is the ultimate sacrifice to the Lord.
SPEAKER_00You've just enjoyed another episode of the Family Business Podcast with the Alessis. And we can't thank you enough for being a part of our podcast. Now that you've heard more about the Alesssies, we want you to join in the family business. And here are four easy ways to do just that. One, make sure to follow the show right now on your app and download this episode so you can hear it at any time. Two, rate our show and leave a review. We love reading your reviews and we often share them on the show. Three, share this episode with someone who could use this advice and tell them why you enjoyed it. And lastly, four, you can go to AlesiFamily Business.com and leave us a voicemail comment or even a question so we can answer it on a future show. We'll see you here for our next episode at the Family Business with the Alessis, because family is everybody's business.