The holidays are here and with Christmas rapidly approaching, for Christians, we know the story of the birth of Christ is something that we have memorized. Hearing different sermons on this has become something that we anticipate on hearing from now leading up to Christmas. This being said, we need to realize that Easter and Christmas are the only times that some people go to church the whole year and in some cases they hear anything about Christ. Even though we know what is going to be preached on we still have to show people that Christ is more than just a story we hear about twice a year.

Now let me say that this isn't the opportunity to shove our faith down people's throats that aren't sure about it or even that comfortable with talking about it. What this does mean is that we can be lights by just being kind. The holidays make a lot of people stressed out and grumpy, it happens to everybody. If you see someone struggling with carrying items out of a store, go help them. Little acts of kindness can go a long way. If you have friends who can't make it home for the holidays invite them to be with your family. If you are around people who are comfortable with talking about God and our faith then feel free to share your experiences with them. Tell them how God has helped you and made you stronger. You don't have to try convincing them that they should believe as you. You just plant the seed and God will do the rest. He has a plan for everybody and sometimes a person just needs a little help to be shown just how good He is.

The hardest part about this, and I struggle with it too, is keeping strong in our faith after the holidays. We have to keep feeding our faith and I know it gets hard. Something that might help is having someone who you get with weekly to just pray or read the Bible with. You don't necessarily have to go to church, but just have set time to focus on him. In this day and age, we are flooded with media and schedules and jobs that it's hard to keep our eyes on Him when we are being distracted. I'm not the best Christian, I'm not even a role model one. I just know that I have to be more accountable for myself and I guess this really was more of a self-motivation letter to myself. I just hope this reaches at least one person who needed some motivation like I did.

To those who are struggling like I am, I heard a quote from Steven Furtick, "Sometimes what God is doing in me is more important than what I'm asking Him to do for me." Don't give up hope. If you feel like you're stuck in the same never ending cycle, that's just God's way of making you stronger and that is something I've definitely been trying to work on. This is the perfect time to get back to concentrating on feeding ourselves spiritually.

So with all this being said: be kind, be humble, show love, and be a light.