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!

Christmas: A busy Innkeeper

One of the characters that was part of the first Christmas that makes me reflect the most is, without a doubt, the busy innkeeper. How many of us can identify with him!

This man had the chance of assisting and hosting Mary, who was about to give birth Jesus! (Luke 2:4-7), but he didn't do it for being immersed in his business, which looked like to go well.

What could've the innkeeper thought? Maybe he justified himself thinking: "Wow, God's blessing me a lot, I have the inn full! I cannot be irresponsible and neglect the guests He sent me because of the problems of one person", or maybe he just didn't realize of the urgent need of Joseph and Mary for being so focused on the things he had to do. Whichever might be the case, he lost his opportunity.

Matthew 25:31-46 teaches us that when we help others in need, we actually help Jesus Himself, and it is curious how Jesus, the birthday boy, passed unnoticed on the holidays for being so immersed in our own businesses.

As much as the material things like the presents, the decoration, the dinner, job, etc., as the no-material things like being away from the love ones or a member of the family isn't with us anymore, make us to turn our eyes from helping others to focus on ourselves. Our Heavenly Father may be giving us a chance to be blessed by blessing others (some even blessed angels - Hebrews 13:2), but we loose that opportunity when we only focus on our own needs.

I encourage you on this Christmas to be aware to someone else's needs, knowing that your Heavenly Father will be taking note that action of love (Hebrews 6:10) to reward you, and know as well, that you're going to be doing it for Jesus Himself.

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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