How do you decorate for Christmas? Drive onto my street any evening in mid December and you will find most of the houses brightly decorated with Christmas lights and decorations. It’s like a wintery fairy land.
Still, there are a few of us in the neighborhood who don’t do that. That’s right. I am one of those guys who doesn’t put up Christmas lights or decorations outside. I’m not sure why. It’s not that I don’t like Christmas. I really do. It’s always been one of my favorite times of the year.
Sometimes, when I pull onto our street, I feel a little guilty. I wonder what the neighbors might think. After all, they don’t know that I really like this time of the year. Then I rally and tell myself, “It doesn’t matter whether anyone can see it or not. What matters is what’s on the inside.”
So if you’ve hung in with this post this far, you’re probably wondering what this has to do with anything. Well, as is usually the case with these posts, there’s an analogy here…and it has to do with character. Character is the real decoration of your life.
Some people feel that character is mostly external, seen in the things you do. These people pay more attention to the external than the internal.
Other People feel that character is mostly internal, found in the things you believe and the values you hold. These people pay more attention to the internal than the external.
But as you’ve probably guessed, true character is about both internal values and external display. Internal values without external display is simply hoping. External display without matching internal values is hypocrisy. True character is rooted internally AND displayed externally. You need both.
So the next time you see Christmas decorations, ask yourself…”Do the internal decoration of my life match the external decoration of my life?” If the honest answer is “no,” then perhaps you’ve more decorating to do.
On another level…
Matt. 5:16 tells us that there needs to be a light inside of us that is displayed outside of us. The Light of the World is to dwell in us, so that He can then be the Light of the World through us. This is the real decoration of Christmas.
May this light be found in you and shine through you this Christmas.
I invite you to leave a comment about something that struck you in this post.
Copyright © 2014 Bret Legg
We don’t put up lights either but we all enjoy looking at the finished product of others.
I’ve been hoping for a long time. I guess I have some more decorating to do – inside and outside! Thanks for seeing it from both sides. Gives me a different perspective.
Think many of us have more decorating to do. Thanks for reading.