Choosing Christmas, Day Nine

Day Nine

December 11

Yesterday I left you to consider how you could invite God into your conversations with others. Again, I’d love to read your responses—but only to learn from you, not to grade your answers! Scrutinizing each other’s lives to determine who is more mature in the faith will always be a spirit draining exercise. The Apostle Paul, under the influence of the Holy Spirit, warned us about such behavior in 2 Corinthians 10:12: “But when they measure themselves by one another and compare themselves with one another, they are without understanding.”

I would suggest to you that we women are more prone to comparing ourselves with one another than our men are. Am I right? It’s one reason why I love Elizabeth’s first words. We could hardly blame her if she had started with her own pregnancy story. I mean, it’s pretty incredible! But instead, Elizabeth acknowledges God’s work in Mary’s life. And she cried out with a loud voice and said, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! And how has it happened to me, that the mother of my Lord would come to me? For behold, when the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby leaped in my womb for joy.”

9) I want to follow Elizabeth’s lead and look beyond my own experience for evidence of God in someone else’s life, don’t you? We could dot Christmas Crazy’s eye by asking the Holy Spirit to help us see the fingerprints of God in the lives of those around us. For instance, a person allowing a weary young mother with a crying baby to move ahead of them in a Christmas Crazy checkout line is witnessing the Word in action: we should “prefer another over ourselves.” Can you think of another example to journal here?

Hugs,
Shellie