Without the miracle of the birth of Jesus, we would not have the ability to live in Christ as he lives in us while we live in our imperfect human condition on this broken earth.
When you have had an unhappy Christmas in the past, only you can stop allowing your past to dim the wonder of your current and future Christmas with Jesus.
Our gift of unconditional love, grace, mercy, and forgiveness came in God’s gift of Jesus to us. Without God’s greatest gift of all, we would be doomed now and for eternity.
When God sent Jesus to earth to live among us, he opened His heavens to us. Jesus is the essence and access of God’s love, joy, peace, and all his other attributes in us. In Christ, we have hope, healing, love, and transforming restoration. The origin and spirit of Christmas is Christ.
As I have grown in my relationship with Jesus, I realize that he kept his scars after he rose from the dead to show us that we will endure pain, but with him, we can overcome. The life of Jesus reveals that our scars are not the end of our story.
Practicing being grateful trains our brain to see and to choose to find something to be grateful for. It transforms our inner truth to love others and appreciate them as Jesus loves us now.
As a disciple of Christ, stand on this truth. Build your trust in him as you practice being grateful for what Jesus is doing for you today. Train yourself to see all of the good things that happen to you throughout your day.
Even on the cross, Jesus showed kindness toward his mother, Mary, as he gave her to John to care for after his death. We all know this was Christ’s worst day. Yet, he chose to be kind.
To have an exceptionally happy marriage, you must partner with Jesus to replace your broken love design with Christ’s exceptional love design. Unless Christ’s love design is the origination, foundation, and compass for your individual love and marriage, you will continue to use hurtful words and unloving attitudes. You and your spouse will continually fight and be frustrated. You will be vulnerable to fall into the cycle of domestic abuse and to pass the devastating behaviors of abuse onto your children.