The Joys of Christmas

Intro-For many Christmas is a sad time rather than a happy time. Psychiatrists are busier following Christmas and the new year than at any other time of the year. It is said that the psychiatric rooms of our hospitals are more likely to be filled to capacity at that time of the year than at any other period. Perhaps this is because many people are reminded of how empty and meaningless life without God has become for them. Jesus came into the world to bring joy, to communicate love, and to make peace possible.

A part of the joy of Christmas is receiving. Many people have never learned how to graciously receive from others. There are many who cannot believe that God is the great giver. Perhaps this is due to to a low sense of self esteem and a feeling of great unworthiness. Some are unable to accept a gift from others without trying to repay them in some form or another. There is no way one can truly experience the richest joy of Christmas unless he or she develops the fine art of being a grateful receiver.

Another of the great joys of Christmas is the joy of giving. God loves a cheerful giver. God is generous, gracious, even extravagant in His gifts. To see gracious, undeserved giving is a shocking experience for those who have built their lives on the development of their acquisitive instinct. Many never enter into the joy of Christmas because they have become like Scrooge. They live only to get. The angels sang about the great joy that would come to those who recognized and responded to what God was doing in the gift of Christ the child.