We all have heard the old Christmas song I wish everyday could be like Christmas; we’ve all heard family, friends, and others we’ve met during the holiday season tell us that they wish it were possible to carry the spirit of Christmas with them throughout the year. Beginning after Thanksgiving, many will experience a sudden change in attitude as the Christmas greenery. Many become more focused on the needs and desires of others, some become concerned with sacrificial giving, caring for the poor and elderly, and while others become concerned with developing a deeper faith that only sticks around as long as the Christmas decorations are up. While each of these things are what many consider as the “spirit of Christmas,” we can actually develop an attitude of Christmas that will endure throughout the year.
The spirit of Christmas: a personal relationship with Jesus
There is no possible way we can carry the spirit of Christmas through each day of the year if we do not have a real, personal relationship with Jesus then we can never truly carry the spirit of Christmas with us. There can be no understanding of the importance, the holiness, and the meaning of the birth of Jesus without knowing him. The only way we can truly appreciate the real meaning of Christmas is to have a personal relationship with Jesus. Is He just a baby in a manger and a footnote in the holiday season or is he a Risen Savior, Lord, and King? The gospel of John opens with the following passage: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not (John 1:1-5).
Those who do not have a personal relationship with the Lord do not understand the excitement that fills the heart of every believer. They don’t see Christmas as the celebration of the birth of the Lamb of God that took away the sins of the world. It shouldn’t surprise us when those who do not know Christ only see Christmas as a time to exchange presents, to spend time with family and friends, and do not understand the significance of this day we have set aside to worship Jesus. Even the atheist will proudly proclaim that Jesus isn’t necessary to celebrate Christmas. They say this because they are incapable of understanding the importance of Jesus as the Lamb of God that has borne the sins of the world. It should not catch us off guard; Jesus explained to Nicodemus: He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil (John 3:18-19).
As Christians, we have a personal relationship with Jesus. Our personal relationship is a relationship of action. Peter wrote that we must show the praises of Jesus, who has called us out of the darkness and into the light: But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light (1 Peter 2:9). It is also important that whatever we do, we do it as a means of bringing glory to the Lord: If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God; if any man minister, let him do it as of the ability which God giveth: that God in all things may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom be praise and dominion for ever and ever. Amen. (1 Peter 4:11). Just as in a marriage relationship is strengthened by acts of love and devotion, the bonds we share with Jesus, our faith, and our love for Jesus deepens as we begin to put our faith into motion. The apostle James said: Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone. Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works (James 2:17-18). Our personal relationship with Jesus should cause us, as Christians, to bear fruit that give testimony to the goodness of the Lord.
