Really, by distinguishing a difference in pronunciation between "gif" and "jif", you are admitting to recognizing the fact that "gif" is pronounced with a hard /g/.
As for what I think, I pronounce the word "gif" with a hard /g/, even though that, according to contemporary English orthography, whenever a g precedes a long /e/ or long /i/ sound (or a letter y that makes either of these sounds), the g is pronounced as a soft g (/j/); I voluntarily choose to violate this rule because a hard g "gif" sounds better than a soft g "gif".