I Wish You Christmas

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When they were small, our kids always loved participating in musicals at church. I remember one year our oldest was chosen to be a character in a Christmas musical about two grandparents and their grandchildren playing the “Christmas Wish” game, in which they were to exchange intangible gifts of goodwill. By the end of the musical, they discovered “that ‘wishing someone Jesus’ is what Christmas is all about.”

2020 has been a bear–aggressive, ferocious, relentless. Last year at Christmas we were blessedly oblivious of what lurked just around the corner of New Year’s Day. Now, with 2021 looming ahead, once again none of us can really know what it holds. I’ve heard it said that while we can’t always control what we are given, we can control what we choose to do with it. With that in mind, this holiday season I would like to wish you some Christmas wishes, some intangible gifts of good will.

I wish you Love.

Not just the warm fuzzy feeling that, while pleasant, is often fickle, but instead, the real and lasting good will, brotherly love, and benevolence that is a verb and a choice we can make moment by moment in our lives. The kind of love that takes joy in the truth. The kind that bears, believes, and hopes all things. The kind that does not take joy in wrongdoing nor keep record of wrongs. The kind that is not irritable, or envious, or rude. I wish you real love.

I wish you Joy.

I wish you Chara, a joy that is gladness, cheerfulness, and calm delight. It differs from happiness in that it is present even in suffering and is not dependent on circumstances. It’s lasting and deepens over time.

I wish you Peace.

While I hope for you the kind of peace that is present in your relationships with others, what I wish for you this Christmas is the kind of peace that brings contentment, the kind that calms fear and brings a deep assurance that no matter what happens, things will work together ultimately for growth and good.

I wish you Patience.

I wish for you the patience to continue, to endure, to persist in hard things, to wait for the things worth having, and to endure the pain of the present.

I wish you Kindness.

I wish for you the ability to put the interests of others first, an integrity that is not only goodness, but is shown in action, giving grace and tenderness and compassion to others.

I wish you Goodness.

I wish for you this Christmas not just to be good but to do good–even when it requires courage, goodness that is not easy, and that may be misunderstood.

I wish you Faithfulness.

The faithfulness I wish for you is shown in trustworthiness, being the kind of person upon whom others can rely, faithful in doing the things required and in doing them well.

I wish you Gentleness.

Gentleness is often described as meekness and both are often understood as weakness, but it’s difficult to describe this kind of gentleness in the English language. This gentleness I wish for you this Christmas is best described as quiet strength, grace extended with power that is under control, not asserting oneself or looking out for one’s own interests but accepting what comes without lashing out in order to achieve the greater good.

I wish you Self-control.

I wish for you the discipline to do the things that need doing–consistently over time, the control to  exercise restraint when needed–not just refraining, but refraining with grace, and extending forgiveness even when it is undeserved.

To a Christ follower like myself, these things together make up the fruit of the Spirit, not separate things, but a package deal. To those who follow Christ, they aren’t optional. We are to allow Him to cultivate all of these in us, not just those that come easy, but every one of them all the time.

I’m a runner. I know that in training for a marathon, I have to do hard things on purpose. I have to discipline myself to do them even when I don’t feel like doing them, even when I don’t want to do them. But, I know that if I stick to the training, on race day I can rely on that training. The hard things will still be hard, but they’ll be much easier because of practice, because of persistence. 

It’s the same with the fruit of the Spirit. Training myself to let Christ grow these things in me will allow them to become the norm, not just the exception. When they’re needed in the hard situations, constant practice will enable them to come more easily.

So, whatever 2021 brings, I wish for you this Christmas these gifts: Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness, and Self-control, but most of all, I wish you the Source of all of these. “I wish you Jesus,” because without Him, it’s only going through the motions and that never lasts.

From the Smith family to you and yours,

I wish you the Merriest of Christmases and the Happiest of New Years.

Be Safe. Be Well. Be Blessed.

I Wish You Jesus, Wordchoralclub.com

1 Corinthians 13, Galations 5:22-23, English Standard Version, blueletterbible.org

Nativity ornament by Alex Ladner, Lumberton, MS

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Beverly Smith
With three adult kids and two preschool grandkids, Beverly stays busy keeping up with her family and loves it. She likes to learn new things, be outdoors, and travel. You can frequently find her running with her dog Jack, reading a good book, or watching movies, crime dramas, and Auburn football. She met her husband Kent at Troy University and they moved to Auburn one month after they were married. Originally a Medical Technologist, she obtained a second degree from Auburn University's School of Education and taught Physical Science and Biology at Opelika High School until she decided to become a full time mom. If you ask her what she wants to be when she grows up, she'll say, "A writer for children." She has written preschool activities curriculum and is currently writing middle grade fiction.