Read and Grow

“It’s the most wonderful time of the year….”

The Christmas season is full of wonder and joy. It’s a time of catching up with family and friends, giving gifts, singing catchy Christmas songs, and looking at beautiful Christmas lights. Even the Grinch managed to find joy in Christmas! But the greatest joy of Christmas isn’t in the lights or the jingles, or even the presents. The joy of Christmas is that Jesus humbly came to earth as the ultimate gift for all of humanity. Christmas is a perfect time to joyfully reflect on what Jesus has done for you and to share this gift with the people around you.

Speaking about the JOY of Christmas is a great way to open up the conversation.

3 simple ways to use JOY to share Jesus

1. Gratitude

No matter what your immediate circumstances may look like, there’s a lot to be thankful for at Christmas. 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 reminds us of the connection between gratitude and joy: “Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” Take some time each day to thank Jesus for coming to Earth as the ultimate sacrifice. Meditate on the enormity of this! Remind yourself that He did this because He loves you. AND He did this because He loves all people—including your unsaved friends and family.

2. Selflessness/generosity

Doing something selfless and kind for someone else, no strings attached, is one of the greatest feelings of joy we can experience. In fact, research shows that doing acts of kindness for others will increase your overall sense of joy and well-being, and lower your stress levels. Proverbs 11:24 says, “The world of the generous gets larger and larger; the world of the stingy gets smaller and smaller.”

Be on the lookout for opportunities to be selfless to the people in your world—perhaps a random act of kindness, serving food to the homeless, or giving gifts to families in need. If people ask you why you’re doing this, you can explain to them that Jesus set the ultimate example in living a selfless life!

3. Hope

Hope is the belief that no matter how tough life gets, it will get better. It’s a feeling of expectation and a mindset that chooses to view the future through a lens of optimism and joy. Romans 15:13 is a reminder that God’s hope fills us with joy, so seek God for this blessing. Each day, choose a perspective of hope and joy. Rather than thinking of what could go wrong, think about what could go right. Instead of focusing on the negatives, focus on the silver linings. That joyful perspective will catch the attention of those around you and open up opportunities to share the hope of Jesus.

No matter what this Christmas season looks like for you, you can choose JOY and use JOY. Take a moment to reflect on your friends and family—who can you share the Joy of Jesus with this week?

Make the most of Christmas, by expressing the joy that Jesus brings with the people around you.

BIBLE VERSES

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 – “Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”

Proverbs 11:24 – “The world of the generous gets larger and larger; the world of the stingy gets smaller and smaller.”

Romans 15:13 – “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”

Some people just have a knack for talking about Jesus. It just seems to come so easily for them, but for many of us, that’s far from the case. It can feel awkward and forced. If this is you, be encouraged – as we move into Christmas time, you are still able to share Jesus even if you struggle to find the right words.

Jesus tells us one way to share his goodness when we don’t have the words to say is to be salt and light.

Salt is added to food to bring out the flavors and to make it taste rich and full. Eugene Peterson explains it in Matthew 5:13-20 as bringing out the ‘God-flavors’ in our lives. When people see that your life tastes good because you are following Jesus, they might want a taste for themselves. This Christmas season, live your life on display. Not in a way that draws attention to you, but in a way that draws attention to the goodness of God.

Be transparent with your friends about what Christmas means to you personally and how your relationship with Jesus enriches your daily life. You might want to start sharing your faith on social media, or record a video testimony of how God has been good to you.

Jesus also tells us to be a light on a hill. The amazing thing about light is that darkness has no power over it. Light will always penetrate through and overwhelm the darkness if it is given a chance to shine. The very fact that we can see starlight from millions of light-years away is proof of this. The same is true for the light that you shine.

Let the goodness and power of God shine through you like a light on the top of a hill. In the busyness of the Christmas season, this light will draw attention to Jesus. Let the fruit of the Spirit be seen in your life: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, and self-control. People will see it, and some will ask you what’s different about you. Be ready at that moment to talk about Jesus.

Put your life on display this Christmas. Walk through this season intentionally bringing out the God-colors and God-flavors, and watch how God brings about opportunities to share about the goodness of Jesus!

Bible Verses

Matthew 5:13-16 – “You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet. “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.”

Ephesians 5:1-2 – Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.

If you struggle to find opportunities to talk about Jesus, you better not shout and you better not cry, because an opportunity is coming to town. 😂

Make the most of Christmas this year by speaking and living out the love of Jesus this Christmas.

It’s hard to quantify what love actually is, yet it’s something we all experience. So whether it’s talking about love, living out love, or both—embracing a lifestyle of outwardly focused love will help you share the love of Jesus this Christmas.

Christmas is a season where love comes into full focus. It’s a time of year where we put aside our regular priorities and give attention to the people we love the most. Our emotional mirrors are replaced with windows to see the needs of others more clearly.

There are two key Bible verses that highlight the nature of God’s love. In John 3:16 it says, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” Put simply, God loves the whole world. God’s love does not discriminate. It’s not restricted to a certain group of people or just reciprocated to those who love Him.

Romans 5:8 reveals the unconditional nature of God's love: “God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” This verse tells us that not only does God’s love extend out to every single person, but He also shows His love towards you regardless of what you’ve done.

This Christmas, let love be a motivator for you to both speak out God’s love and to live out God’s love.

Speak out God’s love by opening up conversations about love. Talk about a time when you experienced God’s unconditional love. Explain how Jesus himself was a gift of love to the world.

Live out God’s love by taking intentional actions that prioritize the needs of others above your own. Replace your personal mirror with a window. Put together some Christmas hampers for the people in your community who are in need. Go out and sing some carols in the community. Write letters of appreciation to the people in your street. The options are endless.

This year, make the most of Christmas by speaking and living out love in your community. Decide now how you’re going to do it, make a plan, and see what God does through you this Christmas season.

BIBLE VERSES

1 John 4:7-12 – Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us.

John 3:16 – “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”

Romans 5:7-8 – For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die—but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

1 Corinthians 13:4-8 – Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away.

Lis is a passionate Brazilian, visual artist, and mother. After losing her own mother, we spoke to her about the importance of empathy and how God can bring good things out of tragic circumstances...

I lost my Mum to cancer. Not long after that, I found myself in a conversation with a woman who also had cancer. I was still grieving the death of my Mum, but I didn't want to let that pain get in the way of the Holy Spirit's prompt to pray for her. I also didn't want that woman to miss out on everything that God could do in her life.

The dilemma in that moment was how to be empathetic to what she was going through and not be insensitive just because I wanted to talk about Jesus. So I asked an open-ended question to gauge her response: “Do you believe in God?” This was a great question because it gave her the power to direct the conversation and gave me the opportunity to listen and hear things from her perspective.

The question opened up a great conversation. I was able to share about the tangible hope that Jesus had given to my Mum and family towards the end of her life, and in the end, I was able to pray for her!

In Romans 8:28 it says, “We know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him.” This experience reminded me how important it is to reflect on your past experiences, bad and good, because God can and does use both.

When you remember what God has done, you will be prepared to share when the opportunity comes.