Christmas Spirit

"Best of all, Christmas means a spirit of love, a time when the love of God and love of our fellow men should prevail over all hatred and bitterness, a time when our thoughts and deeds and the spirit of our lives manifest the presence of God." -George F. McDougall

It's Christmas everyone! Be of good cheer!

While Lorelai is only 2 years old, we try to teach her the true meaning of Christmas. She knows about Santa, about Christina Marie (Her Christmas elf,) and that Christmas she gets presents; but we also ask her what Christmas really means. We try and teach her that the true meaning of Christmas is all about Jesus. We are teaching Lorelai that Christmas is Jesus' birthday.

In the time that should be all about God and His gift to us, His son Jesus, we should remember to follow the words of Jesus. While reading the quote above, I thought of what Christ teaches us about prevailing over hatred. In Matthew 5:43-48 Jesus teaches "You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,  so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.  For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same?  You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect." How are each of us loving our enemies in this time. How about loving strangers, people that you don't even know their names? It is important to remember that Christ teaches us to love everybody, not just our friends, our family, and our enemies.

There are so many outlets out there that are showing hate, what's the latest news on the shooter at the school, instead of showing all the people that are helping the town. Do something for someone today that you would not normally do. Send a card to somebody that needs it, call someone and pray for them and be a blessing to a person that would not expect it from you.