One of the things that I resolved to do many years ago was to not react to the "extremes" that are so often points of struggle for sincere believers during the Christmas season.
On the one hand you have those folks who fall into the trap of becoming totally materialistic and pretty much push the reality of Jesus' birth and redemptive mission out of the Christmas story. They are the ones who fall into the "gift trap" and become the scrooges of the Christmas season!
On the other hand you have those that completely alienate their family and friends by overspiritualizing Christmas and rejecting the idea that unless a song mentions the name of the baby Jesus it doesn't really matter at Christmas time!
In my perspective, every song that communicates joy love and peace at Christmas time has been born from our heavenly Father's heart ("every good and perfect gift comes from above") and therefore we can enjoy those seemingly secular but very meaningful expressions of Christmas love.
On the other hand, nothing stirs my heart more than to focus on the incredible depth of the plan of God to send His Son to us as a baby, not a "knight in shining armor" to redeem mankind from our battle with sin.
And so Christmas is truly a "win win proposition" for anyone who's willing to choose a posture of balance in this beautiful and all too brief season that we call Christmas.
Blessings,
Dr. Jay
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