THINK TOGETHER.
What words would you use to describe Jesus? Jesus is _____.
READ TOGETHER
James 3:17. But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere.
James was the little brother of Jesus. James describes God’s wisdom from above as pure, peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial, and sincere. But James isn’t just describing an idea – the idea of wisdom. He’s describing a person. His big brother, Jesus.
Jesus was pure – He never rebelled against God like we do.
Jesus was peaceful – He didn’t try to get his own way like we do.
Jesus was gentle – He never mistreated anyone or was mean like us.
Jesus was open to reason – He makes sense, but we settle for confusion and lies.
Jesus was merciful – He doesn’t give us what we deserve, but we seek revenge.
Jesus was full of good fruits – He always did what was right; we choose wrong.
Jesus was impartial – He was fair and loved everyone, but we play favorites.
Jesus was sincere – He always meant what he said; we flatter to get what we want.
The pure, gentle, peaceful, baby in the manger grew up to be all these things. He grew up to be perfectly wise. And we can too. When we trust in Jesus, our lives become connected to his life. The Holy Spirit living in us starts to make us like Jesus. That means we are growing in Jesus’ purity, peace, gentleness, reason, mercy, goodness, impartiality, and sincerity.
That’s what Christmas is really all about – Jesus becoming like us so that we might become like him.
Because of Jesus we can see what God’s wisdom looks like in real life.
With Jesus we can have his same character in us.
DO SOMETHING TOGETHER
Find a Christmas Eve service to attend and worship Jesus.
PRAY TOGETHER
Jesus, keep me growing in your wise character. Amen.
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