Christmas Words Highjacked!

The world, the flesh and the devil have hijacked several deep and meaningful Christmas words and turned them into shadows of their true meaning. We're stealing them back!

Love, peace, hope, joy have been stolen from their Biblical context and turned into farces – humanistic emblems unworthy to be called by their true name.

Love. The world says it is merely an emotion, a feeling based on how others make you feel; therefore treat others how they treat you, so love to the world is a reciprocal thing – more like like, dependent on how you are treated. The biblical meaning of love soars, towers, skies over the worldly one: God says love is a choice based on His eternal, unending commitment, not something that depends of people’s feelings 1 John 4:7-8.

Peace. The world says it is the absence of opposition from others; everyone going along with whatever you want to say or do. Peace on earth to the world means tolerance for anything and everything. God says peace is the absence of strife based on what He has accomplished.

Hope. The world says it is wishful thinking based on chance; God says hope is future certainty based on God’s promised. We hope for what we do not yet see, because God has promised and He is faithful to all His promises. There is 100% certainty to our hope. No wishful thinking here.

Joy. The world says it is short-lived euphoria based on circumstances going our way; God’s says joy is abiding well-being due to God’s doing independent of circumstances. When the angel appeared to the shepherds (Luke 1:10) he said he brought them "good news of great joy which shall be for all the people". God gives joy. It is not found in all the things we try and find it in, but in God Himself, specifically in a relationship with Jesus Christ, by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone.

To "rejoice" means to have a deep, abiding sense of well-being because God is with us. It operates independent of circumstances. Rejoice means to remember the joy, to remind yourself of the joy you have in Jesus. Joy flows from peace (Like in Is. 26:3-4; when our minds are fixed on Jesus we have peace, which enables joy to freely flow.). As Michael W. Smith sang “when I walk with God His joy will always come”.