Was Jesus was born on December 25th?

Many years ago I met a young man, he was about 12 years old, and didn't know when his birthday was because nobody has ever celebrated it. He had a very low economic condition and has suffered a lot, even being abandoned by his parents. I was with some people of the church in that moment and, with them, we decided that that day would be his birthday, and so we went on and celebrated it!

For a few more years we celebrated his birthday that day (I think it was a day on April), until he grew up and knew what day was his actual birthday.

Was it important that that day on April was not his actual birthday? NO, it wasn't.

Was it important that that day on April was in fact many other people's birthday? NO, it wasn't.

The only thing that was important was that we were celebrating together the birthday of this young man. Period.

Sometimes we let ourselves to be entangled by trivial things. I've heard many people discussing on the fact the Jesus was not born on December 25th, and that that day is, in reality, the celebration of some others pagan gods. You know something, it is not important to know the real day on which Jesus was born, and neither is if that day some other pagan god is celebrated. What really matters is that we are celebrating together his birth and the reasons He came for.

If Jesus was born on December 25th or not is meaningless. And no, we are not celebrating a pagan god if we celebrate Christmas that day. The people that celebrate Jesus' birthday ONLY celebrate Him, in the same way that when we celebrated this young man birthday, we celebrated ONLY his birthday, and not any other's person birthday that was born on that same day on April. Can you imagine how awful it would've been if we would've told this young man: "Sorry, we can celebrate your birthday today because it's somebody else's birthday!"

All the happiness, union, and peace we feel on Christmas days, all the words of forgiveness and love that are shared, all the hope that many feel when they celebrate the birthday of Jesus on December 25th, are not affected by any means by the fact that Jesus maybe wasn't born on that day.

So, was Jesus was born on December 25th? I don't know. And the truth is that I don't care if He was born on that day or not. But I do care is that we celebrate His birthday, which, as many rightly say, should be celebrated all year long. On the top of that, I'm glad to know that in a lot of parts of the world, whether they believe in Jesus as I do or not, His birthday is being celebrated. And, though it's true that many don't celebrate Jesus directly, they do celebrate a moment of peace, joy, union, family, and hope, which is also what Jesus came for.

I hope this helps you!

A little teaching from the Drummer Boy

I love the lyrics of the known Christmas song The Little Drummer Boy. When I was a boy, I cried imagining the scene that it described (I'm still being touched by it).

This song is about a poor boy that watches some shepherds preparing gifts to give to the newborn Jesus as birth presents. This boy also wanted to give something to Jesus, but he didn't have the money to buy something that's fit to give a King; his only possession was a old drum. Even so, he decided to give Him the only thing he had, so he started his journey to the manger, once he got there he played his best in tribute to the newborn King. The part of the song that touches me even to the point of crying is the one that says that Jesus turned when He heard the sound of the drum, looked at the drummer boy and smiled at him.

I can imagine what the little drummer boy could feel in that moment. I imagine him sure that Jesus was happy with him, that he knew that God joyfully received the only thing that he had to give, because that showed the sincere heart of wanting to do something for Him. And God saw that.

You know something, your Heavenly Father won't be touched by the great amounts of money that you may be able to give (remember that He created everything!), but He will be touched by the sincere desire of doing something for Him.

How can you do something for Him? The Bible says that everything you do, you can do it as to the Lord (Colossians 3:23-24). So, do not let that the lack of resources for doing great things become the excuse for not doing little things. Your Heavenly Father isn't waiting for you to give Him what you don't have, but what you do have. He is able to much with less. Be confident that when you do something to Him out of love, He is smiling at you.

Are you a Grinch? Try the GRINCHMETER!

1. Somebody invites you to play Secret Santa, and you...
    - Not only accept, but also want to organize it (3 POINTS).
    - You just accept it (2 POINTS).
    - You decline (1 POINT).
    - Not only decline, but also think that it's a waste of time and money (0 POINTS).

2. You begin to decorate for Christmas on...
    - Beginning of November or before (3 POINTS).
    - Beginning of December (2 POINTS).
    - A few days before Christmas (1 POINT).
    - Yo don't decorate at all (0 POINTS).

3. You start thinking on ideas on how you'll be decorating for Christmas since...
    - Last Christmas (3 POINTS).
    - December (2 POINTS).
    - You don't think about that, but you let someone else to do it (1 POINT).
    - Thinking about that causes you headache (0 POINT).

4. When decorating...
    - You are so excited that you cry (3 POINTS).
    - You like to help (2 POINTS).
    - You don't like to decorate, but you let someone else to do it (1 POINT).
    - You not only don't decorate, but also can't stand the Christmas decoration (0 POINT).

5. About the presents...
    - You like to personalize them and give them to as many people as you're able to (3 POINTS).
    - You want to give presents, but just to a few people (2 POINTS).
    - You don't give presents at all (1 POINT).
    - You don't give presents to anyone and really don't care if you don't receive any present (0 POINTS).

6. About the clothing...
    - You love wearing Christmas antlers or hats, T-shirts and also Christmas pajamas. Even your car wear Christmas antlers! (3 POINTS).
    - You don't mind to wear Christmas theme clothing (2 POINTS).
    - You'd wear it just because everybody is doing it (1 POINT).
    - Wearing Christmas stuff is for fools, you wouldn't do it even if you got paid for (0 POINTS).

7. About the Christmas Eve dinner...
    - You wait for that special moment the whole year (3 POINTS),
    - You just enjoy the moment (2 POINTS).
    - It's just one more meal for you; you don't feel anything special (1 POINT).
    - You wouldn't spend for anything special even if you had the money (0 POINTS).

8. People think about you...
    - That you have a great Christmas spirit (3 POINTS).
    - That you have a moderate Christmas spirit (2 POINTS).
    - That you'd be part of a Christmas gathering just because of the food and presents (1 POINT).
    - Everybody avoids you around Christmas time (0 POINTS).

9. About Christmas music...
    - You absolutely love singing and listening to it, to the point that you might even tear up a little (3 POINTS).
    - You like it (2 POINTS).
    - You don't like it (1 POINT).
    - You can't stand it (0 POINTS).

10. On December 26...
    - You become very nostalgic, you still feel butterflies in your belly and you are already thinking about next Christmas (3 POINTS).
    - You're kind of sad because Christmas is over, but you're not thinking about that the whole day (2 POINTS).
    - You are only thinking of the arduos work of putting everything away (1 POINT).
    - You say: "Finally, Christmas is over!" (0 POINTS).


SCORE:

- From 25 - 30 points:
You don't have an ounce of Grinch, on the contrary, you easily could be Santa Claus or at least an Elf.

- From 18 - 24 points:
You have Christmas spirit, but that's all.

- From 12 -17 points:
You like Christmas. That's it. If you aren't careful, you may become into a Grinch.

- From 6 -11 points:
You should be ashamed to be such a party pooper. You are very close to become a Grinch.

- From 0 - 5 points:
You have Grinch blood running through your veins, your last name is Scrooge and kids run away from you.

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