Heavy question I guess. But it bears considering and it may not be as heavy as you think. We all have a best or at least better version of ourselves in mine right? I don’t know too many people who would say I am as good as I am ever going to get, the rest of it is all downhill!
It’s not as if the current version of you isn’t great. It is. Yet most of us have an even better version in mind. Slower to get angry, able to release grudges, builds other people up. You know the guy or girl you want to be when you aren’t being the guy or girl you want to be!
The holidays are times where we do try to embrace the better side or better version. I may be the only one ( I doubt it) but we often try to make up for not being the best version of ourselves through the year at Thanksgiving and Christmas.
It is as if the special days and gatherings ignite something in us to do better and be better. The reason I say this is because generosity, thoughtfulness, consideration and forgiveness seem to skyrocket at year end.
You do it too. Simple things like taking more time to talk to your neighbor at the mail box, buying a gift for a friend who has had a hard year and inviting someone over who doesn’t have anywhere to go for the holidays. These are good things!
Here is another good thing you can do, include people in your life. I still haven’t come across anyone who gets angry or insulted by being invited and included.
One of the reason Mt Ridge hosts a Community Christmas Party (shameless plug – December 5th at 5:00PM, Food, Games, Live Music, AND 5 TONS OF SNOW!!) is so you can enjoy yourself and both invite and include your friends and neighbors to join us.
Again no one seems to be irritated at being thought of, being included and being invited. Go ahead and trot out that better version of yourself and invite and include someone to celebrate with our community as we drop off presents for Angel Tree and try to help foster kids find some joy this Christmas.
This is who we are…by we I mean Mt Ridge Church. This is the reason we as a church exist, to bring people back to God. The way we do it is by being the better versions of ourselves, including and inviting. We are FOR you and FOR your neighbors. Being for someone can simply means making room for them to belong.
When you first came to Mt Ridge, did you feel like you had a place? That you belonged? We are simply re-creating that for our neighbors. When we say we are FOR you this is what we mean.
In my mind this Christmas Party is exactly how God works. Our church is encouraged when you gather with us, foster kids find a better Christmas because of your generosity, your friends and neighbors find a sense of belonging with us and that better version of you? It shows up in things like this!
Go ahead and be who you want to be, the best version. In Christ, be the person God created you to be and live the life God created you to live.
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