By Mary Isaacs

Many people look forward to a happy enjoyable time at Christmas. For many people it means new clothes, family and friend’s gatherings with plenty of food like nyama choma and chapatti, rice, chicken etc. However for others family circumstances such as poverty, death, sickness, divorce and other problems may mean a sad time at Christmas when they feel left out and lonely.

How are you spending your Christmas this year?

For a Christian, Christmas should be celebrated with its real meaning in mind. True Christian joy is in celebrating the birth of the Lord Jesus and the salvation availed to mankind as a result. We need to include true worship of God in the celebrations. God is not happy when observance of religious holidays is divorced from true worship and says in Isaiah 1: 14-17, “ Your New Moon Festivals and your appointed feasts my soul hates, They have become a burden to me; I am weary of bearing them. When you spread out your hands in prayer , I will hide my eyes from you; even if you offer many prayers, I will not listen. Your hands are full of blood; wash and make yourself clean. Take your evil deeds out of my sight! Stop doing wrong, learn to do what is right! Seek justice, encourage the oppressed, defend the case of the fatherless, plead the case of the widow.”

So, if we want to have the true joy of Christmas, we need to :

1. rededicate ourselves to the Lord.  We need to do this so that we are cleansed of our sins and God can be present in our occasions.
2. have a spirit of generosity. This is the time to show our loved ones how much we care. In this it should be the thought that counts. Do not spend too much beyond your budget. It is also a time to reach out to those less endowed materially, physically and spiritually. We can make other people’s lives easier and happier even if only for a season. A loving giving heart is remembered for ever both by others and also by God.  We should exercise generosity that reflects on God’ precious gift of his son in order to give us eternal life.
3. have a spirit of rejoicing. We need to make every effort to praise God for all his gifts and put away all excuses of our earthly troubles. We can rejoice in the gift of life and the joy of the Lord despite our circumstances. Our smiles reflect on others so that they can also get rid of their sadness. So sing all those carols with a loud voice, decorate your house, listen to the Christmas story or tell it to others.

This article first appeared in the November 2010- January 2011 issue of Woman of Faith magazine. Copyright: Woman of Faith Magazine. All rights reserved. For comments write to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it