Megan Byrd

Writer

Bible

Lessons From the First Christmas

The Christmas story is well-known by most people. Mary and Joseph went to Bethlehem for a census. While they were there, Mary went into labor and gave birth to a son in a stable (because there was no room in the inn). His bed became the animals’ feeding trough. God sent angels to tell the shepherds of Jesus’ birth. The shepherds went into Bethlehem, found Jesus, and then went home praising God. At the same time, some wise men saw a star that signaled Jesus’ birth and followed it until they found Jesus. They worshiped him and presented him with gifts, calling him the King of the Jews. (Luke 2, Matthew 2)

What can we take from this account to learn how we should spend our Christmas season? Below are five things I received from reading the Christmas story.

  1. It doesn’t have to be big or elaborate to be meaningful.

It was celebrated by shepherds who brought nothing and by three wise men who each brought one gift. It’s not how much money we spend, but the heart behind our actions and gifts and who we spend it with that create meaning.

  1. It’s supposed to be filled with joy.

Both the shepherds and wise men responded to Jesus by praising and worshiping God. Their excitement was evident and leaked into their interactions with others – they couldn’t help but tell others what they knew. Mary treasured the experience in her heart. Likewise, we should have contagious joy from our knowledge and experience of Jesus.

  1. The purpose is for God to be praised and worshiped.

Praise and worship are the natural responses to receiving the love and grace of God through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. After the shepherds saw Jesus, they told other people who were amazed at the news. Many of our Christmas songs are about proclaiming God’s love and goodness and the joy that resulted from Jesus’ birth (Go Tell It on the Mountain, O Holy Night, Angels We Have Heard on High).

  1. You can celebrate wherever you are with whatever you have.

The first Christmas was held in a barn with animals. There was not the luxury of a private room or even a bed, yet it was still an amazing and significant moment. Gifts are not the defining feature of Christmas, Jesus is. We can celebrate authentically if all we do is enjoy time with friends and family.

  1. It’s all about love.

Jesus’ birth was God’s response to his love for us and his desire for us to be reconciled to himself and freed from sin. The Bible says there’s no greater love than giving one’s life for a friend (John 15:13). We also know that God sent his son into the world because he loved us so much (John 3:16). Our Christmas season should be marked by love for God and those around us.

Is there anything else you find meaningful from the first Christmas?

Living Loved

As I have been studying what love truly looks like lived out, I realized that it is also important to remember how loved I am. I want to love people well, but to love well you have to be loved well. Obviously, no one loves better than God, but as a fickle human, I often need the reminder of my status as God’s beloved. Remembering that regardless of my behavior or others’ thoughts of me, I am loved, valued, and accepted can help me continue to reach out in love. One of the most encouraging sections of scripture that reminds me I will never not be loved by God is Romans 8:35-39.

35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?

Paul is talking to the early Christians for whom all of these things were very real and literal possibilities. My most pressing concern is ostracism. It’s in a similar vein with persecution, but it’s more the fear of rejection, of others dismissing me as dumb or gullible or foolish. I also think that fear of scarcity is another factor that keeps me from being more generous in love. Sometimes I am afraid that if I give so much of my time and resources to others, I will end up wanting. It’s a lack of trust in God’s provision.

36 As it is written:

“For your sake we face death all day long;
    we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”

I assume this was a literal death. The early Christians were being persecuted and killed for their belief that Jesus was God’s son. Yet they continued to share their hope and faith with the desire to spread it to those around them. For me, I think sharing my faith and loving others well involves daily deaths to myself, to my wants and desires. I have to surrender my wants and agenda to God to make room in my life for his plans and purposes.

37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 

Through Jesus, we have victory over death. The things we accomplish in love are greater than anything that could harm us. We will have eternal blessings for our earthly work. Jesus did the hard work for us of sanctifying us from our sins. Therefore, it can no longer harm us and should not entangle us. We should feel free to lavish love everywhere.

38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers,

Whether we are dead or alive, we are still God’s creations and still loved by him. Choosing to honor God or choosing to go our own way, neither will keep God from loving us. His love for us won’t change no matter how much time passes or what direction our life takes. There is nothing more powerful than God. Nothing with more power than God’s love.

39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

I wonder if “height“ and “depth” are euphemisms for heaven and hell. No matter where our souls end up, God will still love us and be fond of us. There is nothing in this world, nothing in the spiritual world, nothing we can do or say, that will ever remove God’s love from us. Jesus, in his love and compassion and grace, died for us. This one act eternally reconciled us to God. We can choose not to accept the gift of salvation, but it won’t keep God from loving us.

This makes me think of the question often asked about why a loving God would send people to hell. It’s our choice, granted to us through free will. If we hate God, why would we want to spend eternity with him? Hell is eternal separation from God and heaven is eternal communion with him. God loves us so much that he will not force himself on us. We can choose not to be with him and he lovingly gives us our choice, regardless of the pain it brings him.

The reminder that I am loved always, regardless of behavior or thoughts, is encouraging and comforting. I have often felt (and lived) as though I had to work to keep God’s love. I don’t always completely believe that God’s love for me is secure so I focus on living perfectly to earn it (or not lose it). If I can remember that I am always unconditionally and deeply loved, then I am released to love others. I can trust that God, because he loves me, will provide everything I need and don’t have to horde what I think I need. I can, instead of grasping tightly, open my hands to both give and receive.

 

Do you have any different or additional thoughts about this passage? 

The Fallacy of Our Own Strength

I have often heard the phrase, “God doesn’t give you anything you can’t handle.” I understand the sentiment, that God is loving and gracious toward His children, that He knows us intimately and cares deeply for us. But believing the phrase can lead me down negative and self-flagellating roads.

Does it mean that I am a weak Christian because, in my opinion, I have not had any huge hardships in my life? Am I not devout enough to have a chronic physical issue or illness? Have I not been found worthy of caring for a non-typical child? Is my relatively normal life a result of shallow or brittle faith?

Thankfully, where the enemy has tried to whisper “unworthy” and “weak” into my soul, God has spoken truth to me. The Bible does not say that God will not give us anything we can’t handle. In it Jesus does say, “In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). We also find “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze” (Isaiah 43:2).

Nowhere does the Bible say that the truly powerful in faith will receive the majority of the hardships. Nor does it say that if your life does not contain a chronic issue or an unusual diagnosis, then it means that God did not think you were strong enough to handle it. In John 9, the disciples saw a man who was blind from birth. They asked Jesus if the man or the parents had sinned to cause his blindness. They, like many of us, seemed to believe that there was a specific cause and effect for everything that happens to us. However, Jesus responded with truth. “It was not because of his sins or his parents’ sins,” Jesus answered. “This happened so the power of God could be seen in him” (v3).

God has a plan for each of our lives to display His power and glory. He created us uniquely and, as such, our lives will not look like anyone else’s. God may want to use my life to show a specific attribute about Himself to me and to those around me that can be done best with my current circumstances.

Additionally, if God only gave us challenges we could handle, what would be our need for Him? It’s generally our belief in our own self-sufficiency that keeps us from a vibrant relationship with God. In my life, it has been the hardships that have led me to seek God more, to seek His strength, wisdom, and comfort.

We should not compare our lives to those around us in order to determine our value or strength as a Christian and a person. We should be faithful in prayer, seeking God’s guidance for our lives and trusting that He will give us what we need to best display His glory in our lives.

Verified by MonsterInsights