Thinking about Christmas coming up this December is easy with all the festive reminders everywhere I go. So many people celebrate Christmas, and aside from gift giving and family time, what are we celebrating?
Searching deeper into the meaning of Christmas, I am reminded of God and what he did for us. He loved us so much, but not with the ‘I’ll love you when it’s convenient for me to do so’ kind of love, but with purpose and passion.
PURPOSE
What is really our purpose for being given this life and another year to celebrate Christmas? The more I think about it the more I can’t deny it is to help people, and share God’s love, in order to be an example of what they could be, which I fail at many times.
It’s very easy to love someone who is being kind and loving to us, and be patient with patient people, but how do we act when everything doesn’t go our way? Are we patient with the irritated man shouting at us? Are we loving to our husband or wife who is not showing much affection to us? Do we respond to a child’s tantrum with a gentle, calm voice? These tough moments which are easy to respond in an ‘i’ll give you what you give me’ kind of way, are the biggest tests of our true character.
Only these responses will teach patience, love and gentleness to the people we interact with. The ONLY way to teach people in a way that makes sense, is through example. God has a purpose for our salvation and for us to help him with that job. We can do that simply through the lives we live, and how we respond to everyday life. That’s what people see and when we show goodness during bad moments, they learn from that and want to know more. That’s when they will see God strength in us, as EVERYTHING is possible through HIM who strengthens us. We can’t do this without the love of God and his passion for us.
PASSION
I never really knew the meaning of passion for many years of my life. In fact, a lot of people mistake it for simply loving something. But what will we do for that thing we love?
If we love giving to the poor for example and reach into our wallets to hand over some money to that man sitting on the side of the road, covered in dirt, yet not even begging. What would we do after a long work day, feeling exhausted and hungry, then reaching for our money and finding we have no more cash? Do we conveniently say, oh I have no cash I’ll just give it if he’s still there next time, or do we travel to the nearest ATM, (even if it’s a couple of miles from our location in terrible traffic), return to the man on the side of the road and hand him the money? Passion for something really involves sacrifice and suffering, be it time, skipping dinner, lack of sleep, more traffic or whatever. It involves inconveniencing ourselves many times for the things we are passionate about.
It’s become so easy to forget about living a passionate life since we have so many comforts in our lives now. Everything is so convenient for us that we are becoming fatter, less fit and more selfish. I believe being reminded of passion is so important, so that we can live our lives the way God intended. Thinking outwardly of doing more in our lives for others even whilst inconveniencing ourselves, rather than doing what we love only at our convenience and for our own happiness. And even taking better care of our bodies and minds in order to give thanks for trusting us with them and being grateful for our lives.
It’s so easy to focus on our own happiness and all the things we want in order to have immediate gratification, but God wanted us to have that long term happiness which I believe comes when we make more sacrifices in order to help others and live the best lives he intended for us.
God is LOVE, and everything runs smoothly with love. But not just the simple deep affection we feel for others, but with the willingness to serve them despite how we feel at any moment.
This is the goal I set for myself. To embrace the sacrifices and challenges in my life, in order to extend God’s love to my family, friends and the people I cross paths with. And for those of you that know me, please remind me if you catch me not doing so!
Have a Happy, Passionate and Purposeful Christmas and New Year everyone!
