It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmasគំរូ

Written by Gracyn, age 15 from Orange City Florida

As kids, we all longed for that Christmas morning when all the presents were wrapped and placed under the tree, and the hopes that Santa brought the toy that we have longed for in the past months. In that moment, we have joy—joy of what we are about to get, and joy of being around the people that we love the most. But the thing is, that the feelings we experience on Christmas morning only last for a little while—waiting for the moment that we can experience that glimpse of joy one more time. We want and long for lasting joy because that’s how we were designed. We were designed and created to experience that type of long-lasting joy, we just don’t always go to the right places to find it. We were created to experience the joy of God, and because of Jesus, we can experience the joy of knowing God and knowing that our mistakes do not define us.  We experience lasting joy when we set our focus on Jesus and His love for us. We can do this by looking for all of the good things God has done in the world, and in us. When we experience lasting joy and look for the good God has done, it changes us and allows us to go through life knowing that while a situation may be difficult, we can still have joy because we know, no matter how bad things get, God is still good. 

This week, talk to God about how you can find joy in difficult situations.