This is Christmas

As we move into this Christmas season may our hearts glow with gratefulness. We are overtly blessed in every area of our lives. Some areas of our blessings are more easier to behold than others. For like a fragile gift brightly wrapped with a bow these blessings from God portray his glory in our lives. These are the successes, the promotions, the praise of others, the new house or the new car. These are nice and beautiful to behold but they can quickly be torn away like the tearing away of brightly gift wrapping paper.

Other blessings are deeper, they go to the heart. These are below the gift wrapping and at times not easily seen. These are the struggles, the trials, the pain, and the tears of this life. These gifts cause a change of heart. These blessings soften the hard attitudes, break our wills, and cause our hearts to seek God. These blessings create in us tenderness, mercy, and forgiveness towards others.

God uses the pain of this life to create in us a heart that comforts, gives, and loves… others. We are swept away from focusing on our needs to that of others. We begin to see the heart of others and not their gift wrappings. We learn that all of us are much the same… on the inside. In learning this we see the blessing that others are in our lives and we pray that we are a blessing to them as well.

Our hearts become grateful, giving, and content through recognizing the blessings in our lives. We count our blessings and our hearts celebrate the gift of Christ and his glory. This is Christmas.