Why Jesus Is Better than Santa Claus

santa

used by permission www.pexels.com

I know a lot of people who are struggling in many ways during this Christmas season.  Several are experiencing their first Christmas without a loved one.  Others struggle under the burden of a busier than normal schedule.  There is the pressure of attending special events, juggling the demand to visit pockets of family scattered here and yon.  We stress over selecting the perfect Santa gift for each person on a bottomless Christmas list. Moreover, we struggle to find creative ways to stretch an already overextended budget.

Through the “Santa Claus” ritual, we expose our children to the pressure of behaving to please a fictional character.  Why would we call a man a saint who would stalk little children? After all, he meticulously keeps and checks a list of every good and bad deed and thought they have? We pressure ourselves to conform to others’ demands on our time and finances.

Better Than Santa

I know I sound a little like the second coming of Ebenezer Scrooge. However, let me remind you that Christmas was never intended to be about demands on us.  Christmas is not about us at all, it is about Jesus.  It is not about what we do, but a reminder of what He has done.  Christmas is not about performance, it is about GRACE.

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth… For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace.   John 1:14, 16

Do not judge this Christmas by your ability to meet someone else’s demands. Also do not grade your Christmas by your success at making someone else happy.  Judge this Christmas . . . and EVERY DAY . . . by the price tag God places on you.  To Him, you are worth Him sending His Son to die for you. From Him we receive not just a “little dab” of grace, but we receive grace upon grace…stacked up…piled high…sufficient grace, and then some.  Click this link to see how you can experience this kind of grace.

This Christmas remember that YOU are the Son of God’s gift to His Heavenly Father.

Reduce Your Stress in 2015

Medical science has tried to teach us for years about the connection between stress – especially the self-induced variety – and health. Those who seem to meddle in affairs of which they have no business often experience heart disease, blood pressure disorder, anxiety, gastrointestinal problems, and/or neurological complications. Go figure. Their minds will not allow their bodies to fully rest.

The Bible has this to say about reducing our stress level:

Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business and to work with your hands, just as we told you. – 1 Thessalonians 4:11

Three very simple practices help reduce stress in our lives, or at least free us from concerns that are not ours to own. First, lead a quiet life. Paul is not referring to verbal quietness, but instead the absence of non-verbal “noise” in our lives. In today’s lingo we could paraphrase him by saying, “Chill Out!” Some people seem to thrive on strife; they look for it and if they cannot find it, they produce it. If your life is like mine, you have enough on your plate without taking on extra-curricular issues. I have a saying I try to use to help me not get my plate too full: “It’s not mine to own.”

A second helpful practice is to mind our own business. I am learning to divide things into three categories: (1) things I cannot control, (2) things I can control but shouldn’t, and (3) things I need to control. We do ourselves harm when we concern ourselves with things that God did not assign to us. Nosey. That’s what the old folks used to call it. I have observed that people who put their nose where it doesn’t belong usually go around with said nose out of joint quite a bit.

Then finally we can unburden ourselves when we work with our hands. A little contextual background is helpful here. In the first century Greek culture to which Paul wrote, only slaves did manual labor. Greeks considered it beneath their dignity to do “grunt” work and hired people to do it for them. Paul’s encouragement then was for folks to humble themselves and actively involve themselves in serving others. When we serve others rather than meddle in their business we gain a more healthy perspective on them . . . and ourselves.

One final note: Paul encourages us to “make it your ambition” to put these practices into play in our lives. Maybe this little reminder will help you:

“Don’t sweat the petty stuff . . . and don’t pet the sweaty stuff!”

Are You Living in Your Sweet Spot?

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Pretty much every concern of life falls into one of three categories – things I cannot control, things I can control but shouldn’t, and things I can control and should.  How I choose categorize the daily cares and responsibilities of my life will determine my attitude and eventually my attitude will determine my effectiveness.

Many things fall into the category of things that I cannot control. For most of us, many things lie outside of our control – the weather, others’ actions and opinions of us, the ebb and flow of daily events, just to name a few.  Trying to control the uncontrollable only leads to frustration, anxiety, and ultimately burnout.  We need to remember to trust God and follow His leading in these situations. (Matthew 6:33, Proverbs 3:5,6)

When we try to control things we can but shouldn’t, we can overload ourselves with too many responsibilities.  In doing this we can rob others of the joy of accomplishment, or enable those who should be taking responsibility to continue to shirk their responsibilities.  Even more dangerously, we may grow resentful over increased responsibility rather than joyful in the Lord.

When we learn to discern and concern ourselves on with those things we can and should control, we enjoy the freedom to live joyfully and enthusiastically.  We enjoy what Max Lucado in his book Cure for the Common Life calls “living in your sweet spot.” (1 Thessalonians 4:11)

Be mindful today of the things you do and why you do them.  Do you live from a sense of purpose and calling or do you live out of obligation and a sense of “if I don’t do it no one else will”?

Choose to live on purpose, intentional, and in what Christ has given you to do for this day.