How To Have A Peaceful Christmas

Christmas can be a wonderful time – and it can also be a miserable time. No family is perfect or free from difficulty, whether it’s a strained relationship, a family member who always causes issues, a recent loss, financial strain or separation from loved ones who aren’t able to be with you for Christmas.

It’s impossible to hide or completely ignore those things, so how do we push past them and have sweet fellowship in spite of the mess? I have personally received such a blessing from praying specific Bible passages in my own quiet time before family gatherings.

Here are two passages you can pray as you prepare for the holiday, with two different wallpaper designs for each passage. Screenshot or download the image and save it as your phone wallpaper for a constant reminder.

This is a wonderful passage to pray as you prepare to be together with family: “That [our] hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love, to reach all the riches of full assurance of understanding and the knowledge of God’s mystery, which is Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.” Colossians‬ ‭2:2-3

Invite Jesus to be present! Whether you have a calm, loving family that usually always gets along or a crazy, dysfunctional family with little in common – God will honor your desire to worship Him and encourage others with your family time.

Here’s the other verse and a quick prayer you can pray when you begin to feel anxious or overwhelmed.

Our purpose is to please God, not people. He alone examines the motives of our hearts. 1 Thessalonians 2:4

I tend to pray things like “Help me to be kind to my family.” “Help me to know what to do about _____.” Those are not bad things to pray, but sometimes I ask for those things because I want the people involved to respond in a certain way. I think, “If I do a good job, they will notice.” “If I’m kind to my relatives, they will like me.”

The struggle is often in our inability to control circumstances, people and the relationships that come with them. If you go into a holiday with the goal of pleasing the Lord, your day can be a success no matter how anyone else behaves.

If praying Scripture verses is a new idea for you, read more about it here: How To Find Practical Wisdom and Direction Through Prayer.

Merry Christmas! I will be taking some time off for the holidays, but I hope to have one more post before the end of 2022. I am praying that this Christmas you’ll find peace and joy not from the circumstances around you but from Emmanuel who is with you!

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