…  so … perhaps best to approach this with a consideration of the Greek word translated as gift … we receive God’s grace freely through our faith in Jesus Christ … grace is our provision from God … made possible through the … life … death … and … resurrection from the dead … of Jesus Christ … this grace is made available to us in many ways … we do not deserve this grace nor can we earn it … however … our thanksgiving and cheerful willingness … to first receive grace … and then … to give back to God some portion of this provision … is … one of three foundations for our maturing in relationship with God …

… additionally … in our daily lives … we sometimes give gratuity as a “tip” at a restaurant … sometimes at a store … some times to a person for a service performed … gratuity … as a legal term … refers to the same process rendered to an employee by her/his employer when that person is leaving employment for retirement or other reasons … so … regardless of the circumstance …

- A gratuity is above and/or beyond the required payment

- A gratuity is given freely without requirement ( e.g. no strings attached )

- A gratuity is given to an individual or individuals for personal use

- A gratuity is given without expectation of any returned value

- A grtuity can be accepted or rejected by an individual

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,, so ... regardless if a person accepts, rejects, ignores or is unaware of a gratuity, the required payment is already completed …