Christians can be a tough group! Sometimes we need to be tough - the world's a hard place. But often, we're needlessly tough on people with whom we disagree. That's a trait which we need to change, but changing our behavior is not easy - and who among us wants to admit we need to change? I'm thankful that the Christ of Christmas is in a form that we can accept and love without question: a baby. Because if Jesus had first come to us as a politician, we would have impeached him for his radicalism. If he'd come as a soldier, we would have battled him; if he'd come as a philosopher, we would have debated him; if he'd come as a doctor, we would have ignored his prognosis because we think we're perfectly fine the way we are, and "what medical school did he go to anyway?" Actually, we've already spent a lot of time being tough on Jesus - we've battled, dismissed, debated and ignored Him for too many years of our lives. But Jesus is tough, too, and compassionate always. He loves us, and He knows that before it's all over, we will recognize that we need to change for Him, because His love for us never changes. And then we will be known for our patience and our compassion for those people with whom we disagree. Thank you, Jesus. Merry Christmas, friends.
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