As he stood at the pulpit in the Conference Center to address this year's First Presidency Christmas Devotional congregation, President Gordon B. Hinckley said, "I frequently think of what a different world this would be if all people were treated as well as I am. It makes one especially grateful for Christmas, when our hearts should soften as we seek to lighten the burden of others."

The Christmas season has become linked with kind deeds and charitable service. Many have said that Christmas isn't really about gifts that pass from one hand to another but is about the love that reaches out heart to heart.

President James E. Faust, who passed away this year after having served 12 years as second counselor to President Hinckley, once commented about the practice of giving gifts at Christmas. He noted that there is a difference between presents and gifts: "The true gifts may be part of ourselves — giving of the riches of the heart and mind — and therefore more enduring and of far greater worth than presents bought at the store. Of course, among the greatest of gifts is the gift of love" (First Presidency Message, Ensign, December 2001, pages 2-4).

Jesus Christ, whose birth we commemorate at Christmas, taught that all of the law and the prophets is contained in loving God and our fellowmen. James called this "the royal law" (James 2:8). The Apostle Paul said, "To know the love of Christ...passeth knowledge" (Ephesians 3:19). John admonished, "Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God" (1 John 4:7).

In many parts of the world during this season, Christians re-enact the momentous occasion when the Wise Men traveled from afar, bringing with them gold, frankincense and myrrh, all gifts for the Christ Child.

If we were to make such a journey, what gifts would we carry? Certainly, they wouldn't be tangible gifts, as those brought by the magi. The greatest gifts would be those not contained in boxes or tied up with brightly colored bows. They would be gifts from our hearts.

In the First Presidency Message quoted above, President Faust quoted this passage:

"When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory....

"Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:

"For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in:

"Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.

"Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink?

"When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee?

"Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?

"And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me" (Matthew 25:31, 34-40).

"So," continued President Faust, "as we help the sick and clothe the naked and attend to the stranger, we personally give gifts to our Savior."

As we review the lists of gifts we intend to give this Christmas, let us keep in mind the gifts that matter most — the gifts of love, kindness, compassion and caring for others.