How was your Christmas? Ours was very enjoyable. With our son’s family (four children ages 5 to 10) visiting from the west, we had a noisy, messy… and wonderful Christmas.
The Spirit of December
Have you ever noticed how attitudes change around Christmas time? People are usually a little more polite and thoughtful. People wait and open doors for you. People wish total strangers (e.g. store clerks) a merry Christmas. People tend to smile a bit quicker and longer.
Even in traffic, people are a bit kinder. They let you go first at a four-way stop when you arrive at the same time. They are more likely to let you in when your entry lane is coming to an end. I find myself using the words “hotdog” and “turkey” (my meanest words for traffic jerks) less often.
This doesn’t apply to everybody of course. There will always be a few Grinches and Scrooges in the crowd with their grinchy (I just made up that word) and “Humbug” attitudes. But the overall spirit is a little bit kinder, gentler and more considerate. There’s a reason why the Finnish word for December is “Joulukuu” (Christmas month). We call it “the Christmas spirit”.
The Spirit of January
However, have you ever noticed how attitudes begin to change again in the new year? New year hopes succumb to the new year hangover. The Christmas tree bulbs come down and the New Year bills go up. The Christmas and New Year parties are over and the January work or school routine sets in. Family and friends have gone home and your home is a mess.
People are a little less friendly, less polite, less patient. And a little more stressed, more distracted, more anxious (I’m getting depressed just writing about it). And so we lament, “Why can’t the Christmas spirit linger and last longer and even continue right throughout the whole year?”
Let it Linger
Well, now for the good news. I think it can. And here’s the secret. To make the spirit of Christmas linger longer, you need to have the Spirit of Christ. It’s that simple. The secret was hidden in the word “Christmas” all along. And the word “spirit” simply needed a capital letter.
You see, if you welcome the Spirit of Christ into your life, you begin to change. The apostle Paul knew this well from firsthand experience. He used to be the legalistic, judgmental Pharisee called Saul. And then he met Jesus who (literally) knocked him off his high horse. He became the joyful, liberated apostle called Paul. He was inspired to write, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ he is a new creation. The old has passed away, the new has come.” (see 2 Corinthians 5:17)
Paul also wrote these inspiring words, “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control…” (see Galatians 5:22-23) When you have more and more of these good things in your life, you are showing that same Christmas spirit to others day in and day out throughout the year.
Do any of us do it perfectly? Of course not. Only God is perfect and there are no vacancies in the Trinity. We all mess up from time to time. But, when a believer blows it, they can quickly (and sincerely) confess it to God in prayer and receive His immediate forgiveness and start fresh.
So, I wish each of you a happy and healthy new year 2025. And may the “Spirit” be in you!
Rob Weatherby is a retired pastor.
