Merry Christmas!

…Clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. Colossians 3:12b-13

Merry Christmas!

What do you want to accomplish this Christmas? Give the right gifts? Get the right gifts?  Just make it through the season?

Here’s an idea! Let’s just be different this year.   

How different?  Consider the quality of…

Compassion.  Let’s open our eyes and ears to those struggling among us.  By helping in whatever way we can, we show…

Kindness: putting others’ needs ahead of our own. Whether in listening more closely, smiling more often, or providing warm meals, kindness requires us to seek…

Humility. There is so much of “self” in the world, “self-serve” has a whole new meaning! And, when we’re humble, we show…

Gentleness: “Power under control”. Speaking words that lift up, not tear down. Taking actions carefully, not rashly, and for the sake of others.  All of these qualities require…

Patience. This may be the one we have to pray for the most.  Patience requires us to focus at the big picture and get our eyes off the craziness of the moment.

But, in order to be this different, we’ll need to…

Bear with each other and forgive.  When we do this, we demonstrate our understanding of our own forgiveness found only in the One whose birth we celebrate this season.

Which brings us back to making this season a…

Merry Christmas!

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