The Real Meaning of Christmas for You!
Does Christmas just come and go for you?
Is it just another Holiday season?
Or Does it have greater significance and meaning for you?
Let’s explore what the true meaning is and what it means for you.
What does Christmas mean to you?
Has it lost its meaning or does it signify something special in your life? Did you celebrate Christmas when you were a child? Is this time special for you or just another holiday break?
What are you doing for this Christmas holiday season?
Are you just having time off work or maybe dreading catching up with the family? Are you staying home or travelling to be with Family and Friends.
It seems to be such a rush time as many people try to do their late Christmas shopping for Gifts and Food.
How do you cope with this season? Do you get stressed out at the last minute trying to figure out what you should buy or what you should wear to the Christmas party? It seems so artificial and so commercialized with all the glitz and glamour in the shops, in advertising and on social media.
For so many people, life continues pretty much as usual, but for many others around the world, this is a very special time. Also for many people, it is a sad time. Some don’t have enough money to buy presents for their children, family or friends. Sadly many other people feel lonely as they await family that will never come home. Others remember loved ones that have died and the celebrations they used to have.
For Christians it is the anniversary of the birth of Jesus Christ whose teachings form the basis for right living and a hope of a future in heaven.
How do you celebrate this season? Do you experience any happiness at all?
Do you celebrate by decorating a Christmas tree, sharing gifts under the tree the night before? Maybe eating a big Christmas lunch with family and friends, or are you a Christian that celebrates by going to church as well?
Has Christmas lost its true meaning for you?
How did Christmas come about? Where did it all start?
Origins of Christmas
Would you believe Christmas has its roots in a pagan festival.
In Rome they celebrated a holiday called ‘Saturnalia’ in honour of Saturn, the God of agriculture. It occurred around the shortest day of the year, the winter solstice. In the early years of Christianity, the birth of Jesus, was not celebrated at all.
The first record of Christmas being set to a date was Pope Julius 1, who chose December 25 to celebrate. The church chose this date in an effort to adopt and replace the traditions of the pagan saturnalia festival.
It was called in the beginning the’ Feast of the Nativity.’ The custom and celebration spread to Egypt in 432 and onto England at the end of the sixth century. By the Middle Ages Christianity had for the most part, replaced the Pagan religion and the Christian tradition of Christmas lives on to this day.
This Christmas Message can Change your Life?
What if I said the significance of this celebration could change your life. A happy and contented life comes from right choices and right actions. Right Actions come from right Thoughts leading to right Feelings that change your Beliefs. So it is really important to have learned the truth about Christmas and what it means for you.
The Christmas message is one of hope and purpose for your life that brings joy and thankfulness. If you were more happy, had a sense of meaning and purpose, would that make a real difference in your life, do you think?
Christmas takes on much more significance and meaning when you realize that Jesus was born for a reason to love and care for you.
He came into this world for you and on your behalf. It wasn’t just another event in history that happened over 2000 years ago, but it was an event that shook the world and changed the course of mankind forever. When we do wrong, there are consequences. It affects other people and us in many ways. Many of the things we do wrong such as lies, stealing, hurting others, gossip etc, are not major crimes in our society, but they are in effect distancing you from God.
By turning away from God, we are breaking a close relationship with him. God and Jesus, the same person, live in heaven, a beautiful, peaceful and happy place. So if we turn away from God, then we cannot get to his place on our own.
What is the alternative? It is living here on this earth with all the pain, suffering, lies and cheating, with lack and limitation everywhere. What happens when this earth dies? It turns into a hell hole literally. Those people that believed in Jesus and took the step to turn, back will end up in Heaven. Those People who went their own way and were not interested in connecting to Jesus, end up going to Hell with Satan. That’s it.
This may shock you, but there is no sitting on the fence or third place to go to. There is no other choice because that is the way that God created the world, set the rules up and kept it running. In light of the fact that so many people turned their back on God and because God loves us so much, he decided to give us a second chance. He came up with a plan and a way for us to come back into a relationship with him and live with him in heaven forever again.
How did he do this? What is his plan? He provided a bridge, a way to walk over from Our World to Heaven before it is too late and the bridge is removed as a choice. It will not be there forever, but until we die or the end of the world happens. What it means for you is to take stock of your life. Do you want to be happy forever by following Jesus way or do you want to continue to live as you please? When you find out at your death or the end of the world, that the bridge is now removed, you are stuck in Hell forever with pain, suffering and no relief.
Does that surprise you?
How do you find out if this Christmas story is true or not? You need to seek out the truth. You need to put in effort and research and look at all the evidence, not just sit back and say ‘She’ll be right.’ There is a price to pay whether you like it or not. Ignorance is not an excuse, as it usually results in pain. If there are only two choices of where we will end up when we die, wouldn’t it be worth the effort to make sure we end up in the right place.
Part of your Truth search is looking in the Book of Truths – God’s word the Bible.
Bible points to the coming of Jesus, written in the Bible book of Isaiah 9:6-7
The story of Christmas can be found in Bible book of Luke 2:4-19
The Joy of giving equals true happiness, so first give as God gave his Son to pay with his life, instead of us.
For those of us that are Christians, this time of year is one of joy and celebration as we are reminded that Jesus put down a bridge for us to walk over and this plan all started when he came into this world and was born in a manger in Bethlehem, Israel at Christmas. All wrongdoing separates us from God and requires a price to be paid in order to restore us to normal like our court system. We either need to pay a fine or go to jail for a time in order to pay for our wrongdoing. So too with God’s Law, if we break it doing something wrong, we have to pay a price or we end up in Hell forever. The plan was that Jesus would pay the price for everyone’s wrongdoing and die on a cross, so we didn’t have to suffer and go to Hell. The cross effectively became a bridge we could use to walk over, to get a second chance of getting into Heaven.
This plan is not just for Christians, but all people. If they do one thing, that is believe in him and follow his plan, they will get a second chance. It is that simple. You can be saved from Hell by praying this simple Sinners prayer here, right now.
God promises to honour this prayer and change your life forever.
So how can you enjoy this Christmas celebration?
Start finding out how you can give something to someone. Maybe give a small gift to a friend or maybe some precious time to encourage and support someone feeling down. Spend time with your Family and enjoy a meal together.
Help someone feeling lonely by talking with them.
Maybe you can listen to some Christmas music and feel what it is like to have been set free and on the road to Heaven. Maybe find yourself in church or watch church online and fellowship with many other Christians around the world.
Maybe listen to a Christmas eve carols night on TV or online. By giving, we get back so much more in return. This is where true happiness starts and how you can share Jesus love with others. The effect you will have on yourself is massive when you embrace this Christmas Spirit with thankfulness. Not only will you find love, joy and peace, but others around you will experience it as well.
For more information, please explore this website, for other helpful tools and recipes to change your life and your loved ones. Leave a positive comment below if your Life has been touched in some way.
Servant Coach
Colin Stasinowsky – The Servant Coach. Free to Live in a Relationship with Jesus Christ. As a Successful student of the Bible, Bethel Bible Series Teacher and Home Group Leader, Colin shares his practical Wisdom and Recipes on Making Life work better for you.
One response
Hello my dear on this Blessed day You know I have really learnt what is important this year. The gift of true Love has no price and there is no Love like our maker and redeemer gives to us. 💕