Here are my thoughts about a few of Trey’s great comments:
> “Our problem isn’t the economy…it’s us! It’s not a lack of financial management skills. It’s a lack of contentment in our hearts!”
Simple and practical financial management skills go a long way in helping build a strong financial house. However, its being at peace with what we got and losing our desire for more that is the glue that keeps it held together. Unfortunately, many of us (myself included) have made Christmas a time to take a vacation from God’s wisdom.
Sadly, Christmas is often an excuse for Christians to blame our lustful materialism on Jesus. Like a Las Vegas Weekend for Believers, we ride a plane to Santa City, doing our best to ignore the fact that what we’re doing is wrong. We blow all our money on things we pretend will bring us joy, all the while knowing they will burden and distract us from it. Afterward, we suffer guilt, shame, and “broke”nness, all the while quietly asking ourselves, “Why did I do this again?”
And next year its wash, rinse, repeat.
> “My heart is the key…If my heart is constantly dwelling among the heavenly priorities I’m not going to be lured into spending money irresponsibly.
This applies to so many of life’s challenges –not just financial. When I stop focusing so much on a problem (whether wallowing in it or working to fix it) and instead focus on what Christ wants of me (BTW, He wants all of me.), then God seems to take care of those “little” problems on His own. For example, since I stopped focusing so much on suffering through or even working to improve an unhealthy marriage and instead focused on being the man God wants me to be, many aspects of my life have improved –including my relationship with my wife. While not perfect (whose is?), it sure keeps getting better!
> “Some of the values we claim that the holidays are all about are the very ones we neglect during the other eleven months.”
Churches know this. Shelters know this. All nonprofits know this. Every year it’s a couple weeks of crisis managing all us Good Samaritans that come out of the woodwork like Knights in Shining Armor riding in to save the day! Then they spend the rest of the year wondering, “Where did everybody go?!”
We Christians love to whine year after year about how we need to put “Christ” back into Christmas! Maybe instead we should work toward eliminating Christmas altogether. In other words, maybe it’s past time for us to stop getting all psycho about one day, all the nonsense leading up to it, and all the letdown and regret afterward?
Instead, maybe we should concentrate on making Christmas “just another average day” of living the lives Christ wants us to live. After all, which is the better way to love, honor, and adore the Greatest Gift ever Given? By getting all sentimental over His arrival once a year? Or is it to live every day giving ourselves away like he taught us and asks us to do?
That’s what I’m trying to do.
]]>that’s what i wanted to write. that’s what i wanted to share with you. i had to look to see who/what organization hosted this christmaschange site-it wasn’t blarring with “i’m great-love me!” ha.
i’m a christian. i’m a quiet christian. i don’t blog about it and i don’t even comment on my FRIENDs’ sites when they blog about their christianity. it’s personal. HOWEVER. one of the tennants of my faith is to not judge others. i don’t know why you do what you do. it doesn’t matter. it affects me. it affects me in nothing but a positive way. i am GRATEFUL for it. i am grateful for your other blogs. i am grateful that there are loving people out there willing to risk and put it out there to make this earth a better place. whether in africa, in my house, or within my soul. if you motivate change-positive change-in this world, well you just go and do it then, and don’t stop. i WISH i had within me whatever it is that you do to help the rest of us shine brightly.
]]>I hope to be clear that we’ve done so little. My heart is as depraved as any human’s has ever been. Half the time, I don’t know why I do what I do – so much of it is not spirit led.
Most of the people who have “gushed” over us are people who have at least a reading relationship with us, people who know how we struggle, people who want to encourage us. A gushing is not what we’re looking for. In fact, it makes me want to run for the hills. I know how undeserved it is. What glory any of us get today will be lost in eternity.
If there are any other “quiet revolutionaries” out there, please email us at christmaschangeblog@gmail.com. An email seems much quieter and a more appropriate place for conversation about the people here. Within the comments on this blog, however, our desire is that we not even be mentioned.
Let’s have conversation about the work that is not being done, and then let’s do it. Sharing the word of our testimony is hard to do without speaking. Please forgive us if we have presented ourselves as rock-star givers or super christians. We are not.
]]>I’m looking forward to the day when people won’t have a need to advertise their compassion, generosity, mercy and giving. Praying that one day God’s word, all by itself, will guide the Christ-follower to follow Christ. Hoping that one day very soon the peculiar people of God will do more and boast about it less. I’m looking for the quiet revolutionaries who go about living for Christ Jesus without the need of blogs and Facebook and Twitter. When the saint can return to the humility of being faceless and nameless because they know the life they’ve been gifted to live isn’t about them, perhaps Father’s kingdom will come. I realize that around blogs people mostly if not only want to compliment one another. To gush and say how wonderful each other is. Having spent a significant amount of time here I can honestly say that I don’t have anything to gush about.
]]>Love you,
Amber