What Christmas Gave

I wrote this article on Christmas morning of 2022 having been moved by what was happening in the lives of a widower and his grown-up children. Three years ago, the man’s wife had gone home to be with the Lord, but he continued serving the Lord in the ministry as a pastor.
One Sunday morning, however, he surprised his congregation when he announced his attention to remarry citing his need for a partner in the ministry. Some of the members applauded this, but some were also quiet. His three children, however, were not happy with it.

As the days drew nearer to his planned wedding, his children deserted him, because they thought the woman was only after his money, and because they could not bear the thought of having a replacement for their beloved mother.

I spoke with his eldest son who vented his hurt at his father’s decision, and how he detested the actions of this woman who managed to get money from the pastor for her son’s wedding, buy a laptop, and even top-up her prepaid mobile phone credit. He thought these were clear signs the woman was being manipulative and that his father was simply being duped in this affair.

It is not right for me to take any side in this conflict, and so all I could tell him was that he needed to be in a spiritually-safe position because it was simply too dangerous for him to harbor any ill will toward his father and the woman. I urged him to forgive the offense and leave everything to God to fix what needed fixing. And I prayed for him and his siblings.

So how does this story relate to Christmas?

The birth of Christ is the ultimate gift-giving that can never be surpassed for all eternity. The God-man Jesus experienced the frailties, pain, hunger, loneliness, rejection, and temptations that mortals face each day, but He overcame all of them not by a display of supernatural power, but by proving that a will that is totally surrendered to God allows God to work through a human being in ways that defy earthly expectations. Jesus showed us what God can do on our behalf if only we would completely trust Him with every aspect of our lives.

Christmas is not just a display of God’s giving of a love gift in His Son, it is also a token of the forgiveness He is offering humanity. For why would one give a gift to one he hasn’t already forgiven? But let us be careful with this thought. It does not mean that the human race is automatically forgiven by Christ’s sacrifice and all we need to do is yield to the Lordship of Christ to be saved. It simply means that forgiveness from God must first be REALIZED as a NEED by us. This realization comes about only when we understand that we’ve offended God by breaking His moral law, and our offenses make us deserving of eternal death (separation from God, just as a criminal is separated from society either by incarceration or death). When we understand our helpless situation, then we can truly appreciate the truth that He is ready to forgive if we REPENT and decide to turn away from sin from that moment on.

As we receive God’s forgiveness, we must also FORGIVE OTHERS who sinned against us or offended us in any way. You might ask, “Why should I have to? The pain is great and the wound is deep! Can forgiveness heal that?” The answer is, “YES! So also was the pain and wound the Father experienced at the suffering and death of His Only Begotten Son. Jesus the Son of God paid for the sins of the Father’s ENEMIES! Jesus’ wounds and scars are still on His body today, but He does not harbor any hatred for those who murdered Him, or for those who still hate and refuse Him. His heart was glad after seeing the multitude of souls who would believe in Him and follow Him.

Christians know the first Christmas was God giving humanity the Best Gift of all – Himself, in the form of a man, so that He could make people understand His love, His purpose, and His plan for humanity, perchance some would respond to His love and be reconciled to Him.

Would you like to experience and receive God’s forgiveness and love? Come to God right now and know what it means to become a child of God.
“However, to all who received him, those believing in his name, he gave authority to become God’s children,” (John 1:12 ISV).

Christmas is a token of forgiveness. I beseech you, to forgive your offenders today.