One night some troublemakers broke into a department store. They didn’t steal or destroy anything, but they had a wonderful time switching price tags!

The next morning customers were puzzled and delighted to find fur coats selling for $5, cold cream for $150, umbrellas for $1,000 and diamond rings for $2.

Has something come into your life that has switched price tags on your values? Are things of time more valuable than things of eternity? Are material gifts worth more than gifts of the spirit?

If so, let me suggest some ways to re-establish your priorities and to give some gifts that are timeless:

To your neighbors, nice or not, give thoughtful consideration. Be slow to gossip, quick to sympathize, ready to help—praying all the while that God will give them the necessary patience to live next to you.

To your parents, give loving appreciation for the years of time, effort and money that they invested in you. Do for them the little things that give them pleasure.

To your spouse, give a frank, honest reappraisal of yourself. Remember how much he or she has had to put up with and for how long. Ask yourself, “If I were my spouse, am I the sort of person I would want to come home to?”

To your children, although you are not a perfect parent, you can give them more of the one they have—and make that one more loving. Be available, knowing that a parent needs to be, as God is, “a very present help in trouble” (Psalm 46:1, KJV). Give your children the eternal verities of the Word of God.

These are gifts of the heart and of the spirit. There are those you love who long for (and desperately need) these gifts. Commit yourself to give them those gifts timeless and eternal.