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The 12 days of Christmas


On the first day of Christmas my True Love gave to me his Son. It made all the other days go much better.

It was his only Son, the one he was already grieving in his mind's eye, back in the day when he paused with a lump in his divine throat over these words to Abraham: "Take your son . . . your only son . . . Isaac, whom you love . . . (Genesis 22:2).

On the first day, I unwrap the gift of freedom. I am no longer controlled by other people's issues. Other people's sins can hurt me but they cannot destroy me. This sets me up for the second day of Christmas. . . .

On the second day, the new freedom I have received helps me love other people in a way that's more than humanly possible. I can forgive them because I'm always remembering that their debts are nothing compared to mine.

On the third day, I can also receive forgiveness, because I am not threatened by admitting I have messed up: I and the person who forgives me are cut out of the same cloth.

On the fourth day, I am liberated from fear of rejection. Jesus is delighted in me. His vote overrules everybody else's.

On the fifth day, my shame takes wing and leaves. My past sins are dealt with. I am invited to come to the throne of grace with "boldness" and "confidence" and "without wavering," attitudes I would never dare to have if they were not granted and commanded.

On the sixth day, I receive a good housecleaning, by the Holy Spirit, in my fixer-upper heart. It sometimes feels like he's hurting me rather than helping me, but I trust him. He will present me to himself without blemish, and I won't even remember the painful tearing down of old shingles.

Will the readers complete my list?


Andrée Seu Peterson

Andrée is a senior writer for WORLD Magazine. Her columns have been compiled into three books including Won’t Let You Go Unless You Bless Me. Andrée resides near Philadelphia.

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