Intro

A few days ago an atheist from my college alum group posted the picture below on Facebook.  My response to him was that true Christians are far too busy imitating Christ to engage in such behavior!  This became the inspiration for our final Swords in the Garden post.

By now most Christians know that Jesus was not born in December, and that traditions such as decorated trees, yule logs, gift giving, etc. arose out of pagan winter solstice celebrations.  If you aren’t familiar with this, it is easily Googled, and I won’t spend time on those topics here.  Instead we will revisit some of the Scripture we have covered in prior posts, add a few new passages, and wrap up the year and our Swords series with some commentary.

Scripture

We will start with the verses from Ephesians 4:26-27 and 29-31 we first cited in “The Anger Trap”:

26 “In your anger do not sin”: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, 27 and do not give the devil a foothold. 29 Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. 30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. 31 Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice.

We’ll also reference 2 Timothy 2:14-16 and 23-26:

 14 Keep reminding God’s people of these things. Warn them before God against quarreling about words; it is of no value, and only ruins those who listen. 15 Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth. 16 Avoid godless chatter, because those who indulge in it will become more and more ungodly. 

 23 Don’t have anything to do with foolish and stupid arguments, because you know they produce quarrels. 24 And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful.25 Opponents must be gently instructed, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth, 26 and that they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will.

And recall these verses from the post “Should Christians Condone Sin”:

Matthew 22:36-40:

36 “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” 37 Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself. 40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

And Matthew 24:12 in regards to love in the latter days:

 12 Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, 13 but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved.

Commentary

Respecting the “Reason for the season”requires first knowing the One whose birth is being celebrated. While remaining vigilant against sin in our own hearts, we need to realize that it is loving God that produces a desire to avoid sin.  Until sinners feel that love, they will continue in their worldly ways.

Like most Christians I would like to see the world growing less evil; however, my Bible tells me I am destined to be disappointed in that regard.   This is not our true home, and we must accept that it will continue to deteriorate as time progresses. Our posts to date have reviewed God’s guidance as to how we are to react to these changes in the world around us.  Love is to be paramount.  We are not to be militant, argumentative, and striving against our fellow man.  We are not to put our faith in a stockpile of earthly wealth or provisions, but rather to put our faith in God.  And we are to be kind when God brings foreigners across our path- rejoicing in the opportunity to share the Gospel rather than resisting changes to earthly traditions.  Our focus is to be on the heavenly, and love our native language.  Peter was mistaken about the proper course of earthly events when he drew his sword in Gethsemane, and reliance on our own wisdom will lead us to the same confusion! We must keep Our Eyes on Him.

I look forward to hearing your thoughts, please share.

Be blessed.

K