Christmas Wish List - Part 1

We’ve all been there: hoping for Legos but unwrapping socks. As kids, we wanted the "fun" stuff; as adults, we want the "flashy" stuff—the promotion, the curated Instagram grid, the "couple goals" aesthetic. We live in a "Watch Me" culture where we upgrade the stage but never outgrow the script: Perform. Post. Prove. Repeat. We are addicted to the oxygen of human praise, yet we find ourselves suffocating without it.

This Christmas, God is looking at our wish list and shuffling the priorities. He knows that while we want applause, we need reconciliation. According to Romans 5, we didn't start as "misunderstood" friends of God; we started as enemies. Reconciliation is the divine "peace treaty" signed in the blood of Jesus. It moves us from a state of rebellion to a standing of "well pleased."

Jesus was the original God-pleaser. He didn't adjust the message to keep the crowds, and He didn't check His "metrics" after a hard teaching. Because we are now reconciled and "placed in the Son," we inherit His approval. You can stop grinding for the world's validation. In Christ, you are already wearing the "Well Pleased" badge. This Christmas, unwrap the security of being a child of God. It lasts much longer than the glow of a new phone or a viral post.

This article comes from our Sermon Series Christmas Wish List. The following resources are meant to help you go deeper in this topic of the Gift of Reconciliation.