I was going in a different direction today, then I wake up to this tweet from Rick Warren.
RT @RickWarren: "So many will be ashamed 1 day that they wasted so much of life criticizing other believers instead of reaching unbelievers."
The holidays have the capacity to either bring the best out in someone, or the worst. Why? It a pressure cooker that's why! If your life is already under a great deal of pressure, the holidays can be the very thing that pushes you over the top. As one of my teachers and mentors said, :If you want to know what a person is really like, put them under pressure - it always tells the truth."
Jesus said in, Matthew 7:3 "Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?" Ouch! Jesus apparently experienced this too, and it wasn't even His birthday. Nobody's perfect and we are suppose to take comfort in that. Not because we can make mistakes, but because Jesus came as a child, born of a virgin so He could be the perfect sacrifice for our sins. Now Jesus wants us to worship Him and place all our wants, desires and cares on Him! He doesn't want us worshipping our image of perfection and then criticizing others because they don't line up with out image.
Do you have that "critical" relative coming over for the holidays? You know who they are. When they arrive they can't say anything good without saying something critical. Some Christians are that way too! They try to reach the lost, build a strong church family, share the Good News about Jesus while whining about the church, it's leadership or people. Jesus said it best, Matthew 12:25 "... "Every kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and every city or household divided against itself will not stand." The same is true for churches to!
So what can you do to emerge from the dark side of this critical Christmas season?
- Ask Jesus for a Christmas present. A new heart towards Him, full of the Holy Spirit and of His love.
I am sure that is what you will get.
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