The Adventures of Christmas Esimerkki

December 23rd

Even though 1 Corinthians 13 says love does not envy, it is easy for us to struggle with jealousy around the holidays. Have you ever received a gift that you were really excited about but, then someone you knew got something even better and it cheapened the experience for you? When I was a kid, we looked for the biggest gift under the tree and then hoped it belonged to us. I never sat there praying that the biggest gift was for my sister.

Some of us have been having a hard time maintaining joy because we are constantly looking out the window at what everyone else has. Social media doesn’t help us with the fight against a Jack Frost kind of attitude. We think, “I’m a good person, I pay my taxes, I go to church for Christmas Eve and Easter, so why does that guy have a better car, that person have better health, that girl have a better job?”

My oldest was once struggling with the size of our house. We joked that it's so small you walk in the front door and could be in the backyard. I asked him where Jesus grew up. He’s a little scholar, so he said, “Nazareth.” I told him that Nazareth only had about one hundred people. It was so small it doesn’t appear in the Torah, Mishna or Talmud. I then asked him, “What was Jesus’ job?” “He was a carpenter.” I then informed him that growing up in a poor village with only one hundred people, there wouldn’t have been much work. Jesus most likely had to travel to Sephora, which was a day’s walk away. It was considered the jewel of Galilee, the second most important city. But every night after working on these lavish homes, Jesus would have to go home to a one bedroom, mud brick house where he lived with four brothers and who knows how many sisters. I ended with, “Jesus knows what you are going through.” Feeling really good about my impromptu lesson, my son pauses and tells me…

“So you're saying I shouldn’t grow up to be a carpenter.”

Jealousy robs us of our joy. It makes it hard for us to appreciate what we have. When we are jealous, we are essentially telling God he made a mistake. We’re not being treated fairly. “I don’t trust you, God.”

My challenge to you this Christmas is to stop concentrating on what you don’t have and start celebrating what you do have. Rather than write out a wish list, write out a thank you list for all God has done for you.