avatar4321
12-31-2007, 08:05 PM
I’ve been thinking a lot about writing this since before Christmas. And since it is New Years Eve, it seems its still an appropriate topic. It’s about the reality of redemption and power to change our lives.
Everyday there are probably millions of miserable people. There are many people who downright hate their life. There have been times in my life where I have not been happy with my life and everyone suffers disappointment at some point or another.
The whole message of Christianity, the point of Christ being born and Atoning for the sins of the world was to give hope to people and empower change. Christ was the one perfect man to walk the earth and despite being the only perfect person, despite doing good to all He came across, He was hated and despised for His actions. The people who should have recognized Him as the prophesied Messiah arranged for His death. But He didn’t give into despair. He showed us the way to live and overcome the hardships of the world so that we may have peace and happiness in our lives even when there is chaos and death all around us.
That is the message of Christianity. That is the point of Christmas. It’s to help remind us that Christ came to change us from our fallen nature to embrace our Divine potential. We don’t have to be miserable. We don’t have to do evil. We can change. We can be redeemed and empowered.
A common Christmas story is Charles Dickens story about Ebenezer Scrooge. Here a crotchety, miserable man was visited by three ghosts who taught him about Christmas. More importantly they taught him about himself. They showed him a mirror of his life. They showed him the truth about the world around him and the consequences his actions By recognizing and admitting the truth about himself and the world around him, he realized the need to change his life to escape the consequences of his actions. And rather than remain miserable, he found out how happy he can be.
Another common Christmas story comes from the movie “It’s a wonderful life”. George Bailey is a man who sacrificed himself and his dreams to save his family business. While helping run the Bailey Savings & Loan, he was able to help countless citizens in the community. However, he was unaware of how much his life was worth, and at a moment of weakness contemplated killing himself. Before he could do so his guardian angel Clarence saved him and gave him a rare opportunity to see what the world around him would be like if he was never been born. This experienced helped him to recognize the influence he has in the world, the joy he has had in life and helped him change his attitude to help continue changing the world around him.
Both stories share messages of divine intervention to change someone’s life. It involved both Scrooge and George to recognize the truth and showed them the need to be personally accountable in their lives and the power that gives them. I believe that when we accept the truth of our life whether it’s good or bad and embrace personal accountability for our actions, we become happy and free. We cannot be free without being responsible. Expecting others to do what we won’t do, will make us dependent and enslave us.
I believe that God is working in the lives of men. He doesn’t always send angels or spirits to teach the people though. Sometimes He sends us people who help show us our lives. But I believe we can start the process ourselves by looking at our lives as they really are whether good or evil. And we can determine what there is in our lives to change. It may not be huge, but we can make ourselves much happier and even be redeemed if we take responsibility for our lives.
The first principles of the Gospel are Faith in Jesus Christ and repentance. This is the time to change. We can start with ourselves and when our lives are the way we want it we can help others as well. Look into your life and figure out what you can change for the better. Write it down and do it! Life is all about growing and becoming stronger.
Everyday there are probably millions of miserable people. There are many people who downright hate their life. There have been times in my life where I have not been happy with my life and everyone suffers disappointment at some point or another.
The whole message of Christianity, the point of Christ being born and Atoning for the sins of the world was to give hope to people and empower change. Christ was the one perfect man to walk the earth and despite being the only perfect person, despite doing good to all He came across, He was hated and despised for His actions. The people who should have recognized Him as the prophesied Messiah arranged for His death. But He didn’t give into despair. He showed us the way to live and overcome the hardships of the world so that we may have peace and happiness in our lives even when there is chaos and death all around us.
That is the message of Christianity. That is the point of Christmas. It’s to help remind us that Christ came to change us from our fallen nature to embrace our Divine potential. We don’t have to be miserable. We don’t have to do evil. We can change. We can be redeemed and empowered.
A common Christmas story is Charles Dickens story about Ebenezer Scrooge. Here a crotchety, miserable man was visited by three ghosts who taught him about Christmas. More importantly they taught him about himself. They showed him a mirror of his life. They showed him the truth about the world around him and the consequences his actions By recognizing and admitting the truth about himself and the world around him, he realized the need to change his life to escape the consequences of his actions. And rather than remain miserable, he found out how happy he can be.
Another common Christmas story comes from the movie “It’s a wonderful life”. George Bailey is a man who sacrificed himself and his dreams to save his family business. While helping run the Bailey Savings & Loan, he was able to help countless citizens in the community. However, he was unaware of how much his life was worth, and at a moment of weakness contemplated killing himself. Before he could do so his guardian angel Clarence saved him and gave him a rare opportunity to see what the world around him would be like if he was never been born. This experienced helped him to recognize the influence he has in the world, the joy he has had in life and helped him change his attitude to help continue changing the world around him.
Both stories share messages of divine intervention to change someone’s life. It involved both Scrooge and George to recognize the truth and showed them the need to be personally accountable in their lives and the power that gives them. I believe that when we accept the truth of our life whether it’s good or bad and embrace personal accountability for our actions, we become happy and free. We cannot be free without being responsible. Expecting others to do what we won’t do, will make us dependent and enslave us.
I believe that God is working in the lives of men. He doesn’t always send angels or spirits to teach the people though. Sometimes He sends us people who help show us our lives. But I believe we can start the process ourselves by looking at our lives as they really are whether good or evil. And we can determine what there is in our lives to change. It may not be huge, but we can make ourselves much happier and even be redeemed if we take responsibility for our lives.
The first principles of the Gospel are Faith in Jesus Christ and repentance. This is the time to change. We can start with ourselves and when our lives are the way we want it we can help others as well. Look into your life and figure out what you can change for the better. Write it down and do it! Life is all about growing and becoming stronger.