Do not be a Grinch this Christmas

For many people, Christmas is their favorite time of year, but for others, it is a time of frustration and depression. How about you? Do you love Christmas, or do you tolerate it as you focus on other things? When you celebrate the holidays, do you think about the reason we set apart those days, or are you more focused on a day off work, parties, and presents?

As a teenager, I remember hearing a lot of complaining about the commercialization of the Christmas season. There were even Christians who claimed that Christmas is based on pagan traditions and should not be celebrated as a religious holiday. At the same time, there were people obsessed with Christmas who were always counting down to the next Christmas.

I had a decision to make, either I was going to be a person who loves Christmas, or a person who focuses on the negative aspects. My choice was to enjoy Christmas and to make the most out of the holiday.

One of my favorite things is hearing Christmas music that focuses attention on my Lord and Savior Jesus. The 2018 Grinch movie had me rolling with laughter as the carolers were chasing poor Mr. Grinch as they were singing, "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen." He could not escape the singers or their message in song:

"God rest ye merry gentlemen, let nothing you dismay. Remember Christ our Savior was born on Christmas Day to save us all from Satan's power when we were gone astray. Oh tidings of comfort and joy, comfort and joy, Oh tidings of comfort and joy."

While we do not know for certain the exact date of the Messiah's birth, I love the gospel message in that song. Jesus saves us from the power of Satan. He came to save those lost in sin. Like the Grinch running from the carolers, many people today want to avoid the message of salvation through the gospel of Jesus Christ.

I have heard people recently remark that they want to have all the festivities of Christmas, but they do not want to hear anything about Jesus or religion. They miss the whole point of Christmas.

We have a choice to make about our attitude in general, not just at Christmas. What we listen to or think about affects the way we interact with others. I am often frustrated with the divisive nature of politics and media. It seems that one group is always pitted against another group to keep our nation divided.

Bystanders post videos of mobs attacking individuals based on race, religion or politics. While some stories make the national news and others do not, we start believing this abhorrent behavior is to be expected. If we are not careful, our hearts will shrink three sizes as we think the worst of humanity.

We are observing Advent at our church. Each week we light a candle that represents part of the story of Jesus' birth. This process is to help us to remember the reason for the season.

The candles represent, hope, peace, joy, love and Christ. When we talk about the hope of Christmas, we think about the prophecy concerning the birth of Christ that was fulfilled. We also have hope because of prophecy concerning Jesus' return to earth in the Second Coming.

Peace, joy and love are wonderful concepts to think about and celebrate at Christmas. We have peace with others when we have peace with God. When we know the love of God that led Jesus to endure the cross for us, we can love others -- even those who do not deserve it. The joy and rejoicing we have is that the good news is for everyone.

Philippians 4:8 challenges us, "Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things."

May God help us to remember his excellent gift of grace and salvation at Christmas. Ask God for an opportunity to extend this grace to others as we spread tidings of comfort and joy.