Love with No Strings Attached

Is there an Elf on the Shelf at your house?

Personally, I’m glad our children were grown before this practice became so popular.

If you don’t have children or grandchildren, the “game” goes like this. Families adopt and name an elf who then has special Christmas magic that permits him to travel to and from the North Pole. Although he’s not to be touched, families—especially children—are encouraged to talk to the elf and tell him what they want for Christmas. Said elf then relays those desires to Santa and the other elves. The elf serves as Santa’s eyes, alerting him to who is “bad or good,” and delivering the appropriate gifts. 

Aside from the whole matter of what to tell your kids about Santa, Elf on the Shelf adds another level of expectations and demands to the season. He’s supposed to be moved nightly to a new location so the children are always to be on the alert for his watching eyes. Some parents relish the challenge of finding the perfect “unexpected” location for the Elf to spy on their child, but others may find the nightly duty another unnecessary to-do item on an already overcrowded list.

The bigger lie is what it tells kids (and grownups) about the real gift of Christmas. God’s perfect gift didn’t come with strings attached. In unconditional love he gave his Son to restore our relationship with him and with one another. He’s not watching to make sure we’re doing everything right. We aren’t. We can’t. But because we are his image bearers he is “not only concerned about providing a solution to our fallenness but also providing a way to restore our broken relationships.”[1]

The best gifts we can give each other are not wrapped in paper or the trappings of Christmas. They are unconditional love and acceptance.

Praying that gift for you this season.

There's still time to accept our FREE GIFT--downloads of any or all of the 6-session workbooks from our Spirit's Fruit collection. Use them for your personal quiet time or share with three or four friends.

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[1] Thriving Love, p.9.

Spirit-induced Joy

Kay Warren, wife of the popular pastor of Saddleback Church, wrote Choose Joy Because Happiness Isn’t Enough to share her own struggle to experience joy. Even before their family’s public grief over their youngest son’s suicide related to mental illness, Warren acknowledged, “Joy does not come easily to me. I’m more of a glass-half-empty kind of gal.”[1]

Despite its cynical-sounding title, we know Warren is on to something. In Ascending Leaders’ Living Joy,[2] we note that the Bible rarely uses the words happy or happiness, but joy or rejoice appear a total of 347 times. 

Are we just quibbling over semantics or is there a difference between joy and happiness? We think so. The distinction is in the source of our feeling. The reasons for our happiness are often external circumstances. When things are going well—we and those we love are healthy, gainfully employed, well fed—we’re happy. When any of those things disappear, our happiness may, too.

In contrast, joy is not dependent on circumstances. Joy is an internal resource—a gift or fruit of the Spirit. With Kay Warren we acknowledge that joy is a choice. It doesn’t just happen. Our circumstances may not contribute to joy. In fact, for many the holidays are anything but a season of joy. They are painful reminders of family members who have died, relationships that are strained, and hard economic realities. But, “the inevitable painful times in our lives can be a source of joy because, in addition to pulling us closer to God, they build perseverance which leads to maturity and fullness of life.”[3]

 Our prayer is that you know that kind of joy not only in this season, but throughout the year and years ahead.

 Our gift to you is FREE DOWNLOADS of Living Joy and any or all of the other 6-session workbooks in our Spirit's Fruit collection.

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[1] Kay Warren, Choose Joy Because Happiness Isn’t Enough (Grand Rapids, MI: Revell, 2012), p 19.

[2] Ascending Leaders’ Spirit Fruit collection

[3] Living Joy, p. 21.

Peace that Passes Understanding

Of the nine aspects of the fruit of the Spirit, three get a lot of play in this season: love, joy and peace. Truth is, there’s probably a greater need for self-control, patience and forgiveness in the typical North American’s preparation and observation of Christmas. But in the next couple of weeks we’re going to take a closer look at what the love, joy and peace that flow out of a spirit-filled heart and life are really like.

Of the three, our wishes for peace seem the least likely to be fulfilled any time soon—what with world-wide conflicts if not at record levels, certainly our awareness of them is heightened thanks to the 24-hour news cycle and information available at the tap of a finger.

The peace that the Prince of Peace brings will eventually—at the final advent—be the cessation of conflict among nations and individuals. In the meantime, it is possible to experience the peace that passes understanding—an inner peace despite the turmoil in our personal lives or the chaos in the world.

In his Incarnation—taking on humanity, moving into the neighborhood and going all the way to the cross and the grave—Jesus broke the barriers that separated us from God. You know the tension you feel when you’re at odds with your spouse or a best friend? When it’s resolved there’s a renewed intimacy. The conflict is gone; you’re comfortable again in one another’s presence. That’s the kind of peace we can experience with our Creator. It’s a peace that’s available regardless of our circumstances. It’s a gift of the Spirit.

We may not always feel peace; it’s something that comes from the Holy Spirit in our lives. The Spirit’s peace is much more a character trait than a feeling. We already have the gift of peace. It is waiting to be developed through the partnership of God’s spirit with our own.[1] 

In this hectic season, at a time in history that seems especially troublesome, the Spirit’s gift of peace is one that I really treasure. How about you? 

Although we cannot personally give you the gift of peace, Ascending Leaders is making FREE DOWNLOADS of all nine Spirit's Fruit pdfs available. Enjoy!

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[1] Practicing Peace, p. 15