Lessons on Leadership from the Little Things in Life: The Gift of Jesus

Life is full of examples that teach us lessons. That’s why stories and illustrations make learning so much more effective. When a story can be used to illustrate or demonstrate a valuable lesson, the story makes it much more understandable, relatable, and memorable. With that in mind, I want to take some time to do just that – share examples of circumstances and stories experienced in everyday life which illustrate leadership lessons that we can learn and apply. This is one of those examples, and it teaches us about the importance of the gift of Jesus.

I have talked about traditions that have been a regular part of Christmas for my family, and one of those traditions has been a movie that my wife and I watch every year. Every Christmas season, we love to watch “Christmas with the Kranks,” with Tim Allen and Jamie Lee Curtis. I don’t remember when we started watching it, but I do remember that the first time we watched it, we connected with the characters. The way that they interacted with each other and how they responded to circumstances reminded us of ourselves, and we enjoyed the movie so much that we made it a tradition.

So, of course, during this most recent Christmas, we watched the movie again. I need to warn you that what I am about to say is a spoiler alert, but the movie came out a little over 20 years ago, so you’ve had plenty of time to watch it. Near the end of the movie, as they finally came to terms with the realization of the value of friends and family during Christmas, and gave up the plans that they had made to be home with her daughter, Luther (played by Tim Allen) made a significant decision. He walked across the road to his neighbor, with whom he had had frequent conflict, and gave him the trip that he and his wife had been planning to take, with all the tickets and reservations information. When the neighbor protested, Luther said, “It’s a sincere gift, no strings attached.”

This line in the movie is so appropriate for the true meaning of Christmas. God came to earth in the form of His Son, Jesus Christ, born as a baby in a manger. The whole plan and purpose that God had for this was for Jesus to become the only possible sacrifice that could pay for our sins, so that our relationship with God could be restored by placing our faith in the work of Jesus for our salvation. And this salvation that is offered by God, through Jesus, is “a sincere gift, no strings attached.”

Now that Christmas is over, and you think about the time that you had with your friends and family, or the Christmas presents you gave or received, or the celebrations you enjoyed, I hope and pray that you also take time to think about this. Jesus offers the gift of salvation, and it’s yours to accept with no strings attached. There is nothing that you need to do – or even that you can do – to earn your way into God‘s presence. Jesus paid that price, and therefore, all that is necessary for you to do is to accept the gift of salvation that Jesus offers. If you have never accepted Jesus Christ as your Savior, I pray that you would take that step today.