The Best Gift You Could Give Anyone

Think for a moment about the best gift you could give anyone. Maybe $1 million? Maybe good health? Maybe someone is in need of a new car because they have been driving an unreliable vehicle for years? There is a quote from a Scottish pastor named Robert Murray M’Cheyne (b.1813-1843) that helps to clarify what could be the best gift you could give anyone. Speaking of ministers, particularly, M’Cheyne writes: “It is not great talents God blesses so much as likeness to Jesus. A holy minister is an awe-ful weapon in the hand of God.” This is at least true for a pastor as it is for anyone else. The best gift a pastor (or a group of pastors) can do for their wives, for their kids, for their family, for their neighbors, for their community, and, especially, for their congregation, is to give them a holy life. The holy life to which M’Cheyne is referring is the holy life of the minister himself, which includes holy thoughts, holy words, and holy actions. The congregation, most of all, does not need a new smoke machine for the sanctuary, it does not need a newly constructed bathroom, and it does not even need new carpet for the sanctuary or for the foyer. The congregation needs a minister who offers them a holy life as much as a good sermon or a well-timed visit. The sacrifice of the minister unto a life of holiness is the greatest gift he can offer his Lord, and the church. A holy life cures many ills.

This concept applies to everyone, and not just a minister or a church. Think about what it means to go to work and be a “good worker” (or good employee). Based upon M’Cheyne’s argument, the best type of worker is a “holy” worker, not merely a “good” worker (a “good” worker is too low of a bar). The reason for this is if a worker is striving for holiness before the Lord, then he won’t steal money from the company, he won’t steal time from the company, he will do what he says, he’ll be on time, and he will do his work well because he is doing his work “as unto the Lord” (Colossians 3:23-24). The worker who pursues holiness before God will be the best type of employee.

Also, the best thing a man can give his wife is a holy life (and vice versa). Holiness cures many marriage ills. The best thing a man can give his children is a holy life (and vice versa). The best thing you can give anyone is a holy life. A holy life is a life that is seeking God and His glory in one’s own life through thoughts, words, and actions. We simply cannot improve our lives better than seeking to glorify God with our lives as expressed in a holy life. Therefore, we must keep an eye on our own hearts before God. Solomon, in Proverbs 4:23, says that we must guard our hearts because out of it the wellspring of life flows. If we are cultivating unholy hearts, then unholiness will spew out of our hearts, leading to ruin and destruction in this life and the next. On the other hand, if we will, with God’s help, pursue Him with all of our might, and ask God to continually reveal sin in our hearts, and if we will obey Him to walk on His paths, then we will create a beautiful life before Him and before others. We can only do this with His help since holiness comes from Him. Apart from Him we can do nothing (John 15), but with Him we can do all things (Philippians 4:13). May God help us to be holy as He is holy (1 Peter 1:16).