HOLIDAY DISAPPOINTMENT

Have you ever been disappointed with the way your Christmas holiday turned out? You got sick, or your special food dishes flopped or an expected gift wasn’t under the tree.  Or maybe it was something more serious:  you were hospitalized, the house was burglarized or you’re facing a major car repair. Major disappointment steals your joy.

What is the real problem?  Unrealistic expectations.  Is there any reason why the Christmas season shouldn’t be like any other season of the year, full of good days and bad days, fun and folly?  Why do we think that Christmas time is somehow exempt from the stuff of everyday living?  Such disappointment stems from a worldly mindset. The Bible calls it “defilement of the world” in 2 Peter 2.  Freedom from such defilement is “the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ”.  Such knowledge promises us that if we have it, we will NEVER be disappointed (Ps. 22:5 and 1 Peter 2:6).  If we are focused on Christ, rather than the events and trappings of what the world tells us produces the “perfect Christmas celebration”, we can escape holiday disappointments. A moment-by-moment awareness of Christ (having the mind of Christ 1 Cor. 2:16) is the key to avoiding disappointment—if we are tuned in to Him and always in the center of His will, gifts & holiday events will not control our emotions.

Prompt:  Jesus never told us to remember his birth…His instruction was to remember His death, which gave us life.

Prayer:  Thank you, Lord, for giving me the only gift that will never disappoint—eternal life.