Hope for the Holiday

December 10, 2004

Hope for the Day

Holiday gifts, holiday wrapping, holiday tree, holiday shopping, holiday meals, holiday visitors, holiday travel, holiday church service, holiday decorating, holiday visiting, holiday cards, holiday bills, holiday mailings, holiday giving.....Happy Holidays!  Somehow we have been duped into forgetting the whole purpose of this holiday. In fact great effort has been expended to avoid using the name of this holiday lest anyone be offended.  Many are deceived by advertisements, TV programs, friends and neighbors into feeling guilty because they can’t provide or do all the “things” that are demanded by the world. After all is said and done the only thing left to show for our “stressday” is a credit card bill. Dictionery.com defines holiday as a day free from work that one may spend at leisure, especially a day on which custom or the law dictates a halting of general business activity to commemorate or celebrate a particular event; a religious feast day; a holy day. In the case of the present worldly holiday the date of December 25th comes from Rome and was a celebration of the Italic god, Saturn, and the rebirth of the sun god. Variations of this pagan holiday flourished throughout the first few centuries after Jesus Christ, but it probably wasn't until 336 AD that Emperor Constantine officially converted this pagan tradition into the "Christian" holiday of Christmas. It would be less stressful if we considered what we are really celebrating – the birth of Christ, the Messiah – Jesus the redeemer, the savior, God became man that we might have eternal life. Have you considered giving real gifts to those you love and appreciate?  Gifts like love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.  Some examples might be: spending quality time with your spouse, children, friends and relatives - listening to them, encouraging them, playing games with them, hugging them, complimenting them, getting to really know them, calling them, sending a note you actually wrote rather than a preprinted card. These things cost so little but mean so much and they don’t end up in a garage sale. In today’s society the celebration of this “holiday” is anything but leisure – it has become a time of guilt and depression for many because we have allowed it to be taken over by the world.  So this Christmas try creating memories of love – try celebrating the birth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.  Chances are you will discover real joy of Christmas.  What if the bible is true?

Hope Ministries, Inc. is a Christian Counseling Center. We are available because we care about you and desire to help anyone who is struggling to overcome life’s difficult situations. Give us a call at 914-482-5300 or toll-free 888-905-HOPE.

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