"For the Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve and to give His life as a ransom for many." (Mark 10:45)
Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility regard others as better than yourselves. (Phil. 2:3)
Thoughts: As a child the first question after Christmas was, "What did you get?" We would compare toys, clothes, and games. Adults still do this throughout the year. For adults in our day, there is the interesting pain and joy combination found in family gatherings. The divorced father who has to swallow his pride to go see his children at Christmas- knowing he will be criticized no matter what he does. The divorced mother who is wondering how she will be able to pay the bills she incurred for the presents. There is the uncle or aunt who just didn't seem to make it in life- making bad choices for drugs and alcohol or who always causes a fuss. How do we react to the heartache around us at Christmas?
Christmas is about Jesus coming into our heartache, and staying there despite great cost to himself. Christ came not to be served, but to serve. For believers our greatest gift has already been given to us. No car, no house, no trip, no amount of money can begin to compare to this great gift- our ransom from death- from the grave- from hell. In the security and gratitude of this greatest gift, it is even more important that we continue to give of ourselves.
Christ came to serve, and valued us sinners above Himself. So we should seek to give ourselves away this post-Christmas. Instead of seeking to be offended, seek to serve- even if your service is taken for granted. The way of Christ is not seeking our own comfort or blessing here, but finding our blessing and joy here in serving Christ and others. Things will go better with the relatives if you do so. And even if there are no relatives to serve, doing something for a neighbor will put a smile on your heart.
Prayer: Today may I seek to serve my hurting lonely neighbors in the Spirit of your coming, O Lord.
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