Lyrics Page

The Gift

By Randy Travis

625 views Sep 14, 2026 updated Rise and Shine album Verified editorial review

Song Meaning

Randy Travis tells the Christmas story with an unusual emphasis — not the manger scene itself, but the exchange underneath it. "He had the birthday, we got the gift," he repeats, treating the day less like a celebration of an infant and more like a transaction settled entirely in one direction.

He doesn't let listeners stay comfortable with the imagery either — "born to die so we could live" arrives in the same breath as "put on this earth to hang there on that cross," collapsing Bethlehem and Calvary into a single verse. Travis names the cost plainly: "there's no way in this world we could repay the miracle He gave us on that day."

Paul draws the same contrast in Romans 6:23, wages earned against a gift freely given, and Ephesians 2:8-9 insists that gift can't be worked for, only received. Travis's closing line turns Christmas morning into something closer to a ledger permanently marked paid — "on our Savior's birthday, we got the gift."

Lyrics Verified by Editorial Team

[Verse 1]

He was born in Bethlehem they say,

There was a star to light the path to where He lay.

Rich or poor they came from far and near,

Cause they'd all heard the reason He was here.


[Chorus]

He was the Son God sent to one and all.

Put on this earth to hang there on that cross.

Born to die so we could live.

He had the birthday, we got the gift.


[Verse 2]

They wrapped him up with gentle hands.

God hoped the world would understand.

Eternal life we shall receive.

And all that He asks in return is that we just believe.


[Chorus]

He was the Son God sent to one and all.

Put on this earth to hang there on that cross.

Born to die so we could live.

He had the birthday, we got the gift.

There's no way in this world we could repay

The miracle He gave us on that day.


[Chorus]

He was the Son God sent to one and all,

put on this earth to hang there on that cross,

born to die so we could live.

He had the birthday, we got the gift.

On our Savior's birthday, we got the gift.

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