This morning, as I was asking the Lord, “What next? What more? Tell me another “gift” we can give that will make You smile!”, and while the words were in my mouth, I heard, “How about a bad attitude!”
Well, I don’t think I had one, but I sure know what He meant. Made me smile!
Wouldn’t that be a great gift, though? What if your family members would give to God every bad attitude and have nothing but sweetness and kindness left over to bring to every gathering at Christmas? What if everyone came to enjoy and brought a genuine interest in others? That would be delightful all around!
We know, of course, that we cannot surrender anyone’s bad attitude but our own, but I’ve known people around whom it is really difficult to be grumpy or selfish. What if we had nothing but sweetness and kindness to contribute to each Christmas festivity? What if our interest in others far overshadowed our Christmas pride – decor, food, gifts, and effort? What if we made it difficult for others to be humbugs?
That means no griping about parking, shopping, cleaning, barking dogs, or broken dishes! No self-referential conversation about dieting, no disparaging even the grumpiness of others! No relating of woes past, present, or yet to come!
Nobody wants to be around a Christmas Fairy, pretending nothing can, should, or ever will go wrong at Christmas, but when we bring the joy of the coming of Christ into our Christmas Watch, when in our celebration we are glad to be glad and grateful to thankful and tender-hearted toward those who are not, when neither Christmas nor its failure to fulfill can deplete us, we are gifting the God Who gifted us with Himself every day that we live.
Laurel and Hardy
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