The Christmas decorations are put away. Hallmark’s “Countdown to Christmas” programming, which began in October, has run its course. In church life, the Advent season is now complete for another year.
As you reflect on the Christmas holiday, what was your favorite Christmas present—given or received—
this year?
There’s a powerful scene in C.S. Lewis’ The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe in which the children receive amazing Christmas presents from “Father Christmas” (i.e. Santa Claus).
After many years, the children, having lost possession of those precious gifts, rediscover them. Lucy considers the gift she received her favorite earthly possession.
As 2026 is underway, now is a good time to rediscover or reconsider the good gifts we each have received from the Lord.
Above all, Jesus Christ Himself, the Son of God and Savior, is the ultimate gift to be received and treasured; not only at Christmas, but every day. There are other gifts that the Lord gives us, when He gives us Jesus.
Two such gifts from God are coming to my mind. The name of my column is “Sword and Trowel.” The phrase, which is a reference to the Book of Nehemiah, was used by the late, great preacher, Charles Haddon Spurgeon, whose publication founded in the 1860s still bears the name. The biblical image is one of building up and of spiritual warfare.
As followers of Jesus, our “sword” is, of course, the Word of God (Eph. 6:14). By the power of the Holy Spirit, we are each part of the Body of Christ and the household that God is building (Eph. 2). A sword is for battle, and a trowel is for building up, and each of these aspects is essential to a life of discipleship.
These are great gifts that God has given to all His followers. Too often, we neglect these gifts in our daily walk with Him. Or we sometimes focus only on one of these aspects of the Christian life to the neglect of
the other.
It is tempting to many Christians to be only people of the truth and to neglect grace. With arguments ready and swords drawn, we are so ready to proclaim the way things ought to be, that we forget to be redemptive and graceful about it.
There are still other Christians who feel so compelled to build other people up with positive things, to be such an encourager, that they compromise or forget the truth.
Yet, God gives us a great example through Nehemiah’s workers, as they constructed the walls of Jerusalem that God was prompting them to build, while being under enemy fire. They were on a God-given mission, carrying sword and a trowel (Neh. 4:15-23).
In 2026 and beyond, I am reminded to treasure all good gifts that the Lord gives us. And to use them daily for His glory and His Kingdom. To challenge and build up—like sword and trowel—in a lost and dark time that desperately needs the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
