If we expect to automatically think and speak like Jesus, after accepting him into our lives, we do not understand God’s definition and design of our faith.
Every new start comes from an ending. When you find yourself in a challenging and painful place, look for the new beginning God has planned for you.
To find our original created identity, we must find the truth in God’s word. We must know the origin of our identity. Who made us? How we are made, and why?
When we begin our walk with Jesus, many of us are not taught how to study God’s word, how to pray and praise him, and how to create or grow in a personal relationship with Jesus.
However, we are responsible for learning how to live through Christ and to be transformed into his likeness in our lives. Jesus doesn’t automatically show us how to live for him. He waits for us to seek him and to walk hand in hand with him as we learn.
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.
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.