Christmas can be a complicated equation. Add two sisters-in-law. One wants less; the other wants more. Divide the holiday in half and see what you get.
“Didn’t ya hear?” My sister-in-law Debbie paused to take another drag on her Virginia Slim before she exhaled the news. “Mary’s on the plane.”
“Now? Christmas is still five days away!” I looked in horror at my half-decorated cookies and unfinished list.
Mary and I opposed each other from the start. She arrived when she wanted and left when she darn well pleased.
All my life, I dreamt of a peaceful Christmas morning with my immediate family.
Mary’s dream became my nightmare: an early-morning home invasion, her chaotic crew claiming the closest spot to the Christmas tree.
Mary pushed, and I pulled my hair out, trying to figure out the difference between a Christian and a doormat.
Yet, over time, God turned the unthinkable into the possible by taking two women at war and joining our hearts, sisters for life.
But it wasn’t Christmas magic.
It wasn’t that I became the bigger person or that Mary apologized for changing my plans.
We made peace because God’s love made up the difference in my too-small heart.
Reconciliation is the message of Christmas.
When it comes to perfect love, we’ll never get it right. We’re born rebels ready for a fight.
But while we were hopelessly divided from God, Jesus came down to be our peace.
Romans 5:10 says:
“…while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son…”
God so loved the world, He chose to gift-wrap redemption in swaddling clothes and present us with the priceless gift of His Only Begotten Son.
“Peace on earth. Good will toward men,” the angels sang on that first Christmas.
The “good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people” in Luke 2:10, KJV comes down to this one life-changing fact:
God owed us nothing, yet He gave us His everything.
I mean, who does that?
I certainly didn’t have enough love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control to balance that equation on my own.
Divide Christmas in half by the world’s standards, and everyone comes up short. But when Jesus makes up the difference, we end up with so much more.
I gained a sister. We enjoyed each other’s unique contributions and doubled our joy for the rest of our years together.
Over time, we reconciled our differences only because Jesus made our hearts right.
Romans 5:11 tells us:
“More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.”
Nice work, Jesus.
Our joy multiplies because of You.