Permission and Validation

I do not even judge myself. - 1 Corinthians 4:3

Monday and Tuesday we looked at the reasons for how Mary and Joseph entered Bethlehem and ended up in a sheep-barn instead of with their family who was no doubt already in town. Perhaps family excluded them or perhaps they chose not to join family.

No doubt as you enter the holiday season, you have layers of emotion around spending time with family - probably not unlike Mary and Joseph. What if you followed Paul’s example and didn’t judge yourself for those emotions? If you are thrilled to be with family, can you embrace that without judgment? If you are dreading seeing family, can you embrace that without judgment? If you are choosing not to see family, can you embrace that without judgment?

Justin Campbell on Sunday talked a lot about giving yourself permission to feel what you feel and about how through this story God is giving validation to the intense emotions that arise at this time of year. God is not unfamiliar with family drama - in Christ, God experienced plenty of it. So can you be gentle with yourself and give yourself permission to feel God’s validation of how you are feeling these days as you look towards the holidays?