Christmas is about Christ coming to earth to save us. But He doesn’t just save us to be with Him for eternity in heaven. He saves us from our fears and our tears, from our anger and our addictions, from our selfishness and from a meaningless existence.
That’s why it’s hard for me when folks avoid talking about Jesus. He’s the best thing that ever happened in my life.
This is how Rick Warren puts it: “No one wants what’s best for you more than God. No one knows better what will make you truly happy! God doesn’t want you to be afraid of Him. He wants you to run to him, not from him. In fact, 365 times in the Bible, God says, ‘Don’t be afraid!’ That’s one ‘Fear not’ for every day of the year! So what are you afraid of? None of us knows what we’ll face this next year, but we can know that God loves us, God is with us, and God is for us…
“So where does fear in God come from? Primarily two sources: a guilty conscience and ignorance of what God I really like. The Bible says, ‘There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.’ Guilt makes us insecure.
“Have you ever noticed that some people get extremely nervous anytime anyone mentions God or Jesus in a conversation? I’ve seen people who have an instant visceral reaction at the mention of Jesus… Maybe you felt yourself react and wondered why. Adrenaline starts rushing through your veins. Our common reason is that we feel ashamed of ways we’ve acted and treated others. Assuming that God is mad at us and that he’s going to scold us for all the ways we’ve fallen short, we seek to avoid even talking about him.
“But God is not mad at you. He is mad about you! Jesus said, ‘God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world.’ If you study the life of Jesus, you’ll see that when you make a mistake, Jesus doesn’t rub it in. He rubs it out. He came to erase all your sins, mistakes, failures, and regrets. That’s why the first statement the angel made to the shepherds was ‘Don’t be afraid.’ Jesus came to save us not to scare us. It’s a reason to celebrate.” From The Purpose of Christmas by Rick Warren.
I couldn’t agree more!