Whether it's a Christmas gift for your husband, wife, child or friend, the act of giving is a show of love and appreciation. It also satisfies a basic need in all of us to please another. All too often, though, we forget about the larger purpose of giving, the purpose giving Christmas gifts to charity can fulfill.

Of course the act of giving a gift to a loved one or someone close to you has an immediate positive impact in seeing the joy on their face as they receive the gift and then them lighting up when they see how much you thought and cared to pick that particular gift for them. This personal connection and reinforcement is missing when giving gifts to charity at Christmas, or any other time for that matter. You put some thought into the Charitable gifts you buy, picking different items for a family charity than a homeless charity, but in the end it just disappears; for all you know it actually went into a black hole. Don't be fooled though, the importance of giving charity Christmas gifts is far greater than your personal experience.

Use Imagination

The act of giving charitable Christmas gifts is actually more important than the gift itself. You don't need to be affluent to participate in this grand contribution. You only need to use imagination. Picture in your mind the type of person or people who will receive the gift. Imagine yourself in their place.

For example put yourself in the shoes of a family down on their luck, and the joy the father and/or mother will have watching a child open a gift that would not be there if it weren't for charity. You realize then it won't take much to bring that joy about. And the happiness of that child, and the joy of that parent, is just the beginning.

The care and love you use to purchase a charity Christmas gift represents the larger care, and greater understanding, you have of your role in the world. The process, the use of your imagination, the uplifting feeling you and everyone involved get, all add positive energy to the world and help to make it a better place. You do have the power to make a difference and in the end you need to realize the giving of Christmas charity is not about the gifts, but about the contribution you are making on a larger scale.