In the Western world, the holiday season is upon us. In November, we celebrate Thanksgiving, and in December, we remember the birth of our Lord Jesus at Christmas. As Isaac Watts declared in the famous hymn “Joy to the World,” based on Psalm 98, “Joy to the world, the Lord has come; let earth receive her King!”
And yet, even as we celebrate, the holiday season can be one of the most emotionally challenging times of the year, both for God’s people and for the world around us. Many struggle with depression, anxiety, and feelings of worthlessness. Mental health professionals have long studied why this season seems to intensify emotional pain, and their findings reinforce an important truth:
Pain and emotional heartache become more noticeable when everything around us seems to be full of happiness and joy.
Reasons why the holidays can heighten emotional struggle.
The holidays magnify what we feel is missing. Hallmark-type movies, ads, and exaggerated social media posts portray perfect families, perfect moments, and perfect emotions. When our reality of strained relationships, losses, loneliness, and regrets does not live up to those images, we begin comparing and feeling like failures.
Old wounds resurface. The holidays seem to bring up memories from the past, such as childhood pain, broken relationships, and loved ones who are no longer with us.
Emotional exhaustion and stress. This season brings added responsibilities, travel, preparation, finances, and expectations, all of which can drain us and stretch our emotional capacity.
Spiritual warfare increases. This season highlights Jesus’ coming, the hope He brings, and God’s covenant sacrificial love. The enemy loves nothing more than to darken and distort these truths in the lives of God’s people and others.
The pressure to “be happy” creates shame. When we don’t feel the joy we think we should feel, we start believing something is wrong with us. A lack of happiness and joy becomes hidden shame.
In facing moments like these, we need to be like the sons of Issachar, who “understood the times” and knew what God’s people should do (1 Chronicles 12:32). Jesus highlighted our calling is to shine the light of God’s better way right in the middle of the pressure of the holidays.
- Matthew 5:14–16 “You are the light of the world… Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works and glorify your Father who is in heaven.
Two Essentials in Overcoming the Holiday Battle
But how do we shine when we feel the same pressures and face the same emotional battles? We anchor ourselves in two eternal and essential truths that God’s people have continual access to, especially during the holidays.
1. Moment-by-moment gratitude, motivated by the firm foundation of ETERNAL GRATITUDE.
- 1 Thessalonians 5:16–18 Rejoice always… in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus.
- Philippians 4:4–8 Rejoice in the Lord always… Whatever is true, honorable, right, pure, lovely, of good repute… let your mind dwell on these things.
We can cultivate gratefulness and thankfulness even under pressure. Why? Because our gratitude is rooted not in circumstances, but in what God has already and eternally done through Jesus. When our hearts stay anchored in that eternal gratitude, our perspective shifts. It both motivates us and causes us to begin noticing blessings we normally overlook. This is such an amazing thing that God’s people can participate in. As we are motivated by eternal gratitude to be thankful for things others normally overlook, God’s life rises within us and flows through us.
2. Seeing God’s value of people (including ourselves), which elevates our value of them.
I readily admit that I am a natural cheapskate. Because of this, I am amazed at how much people pay for things that have almost no actual value. Consider a few examples that shocked me.
- In 2023, someone paid $2.2 million for a used pair of Michael Jordan’s tennis shoes. Similar actual shoes are probably worth less than $10 at a used store or a garage sale.
- In 2021, a Honus Wagner baseball card sold for $6.6 million, a piece of cardboard originally worth a couple of cents, and now, years later, the actual cost is even less valuable.
- In 2012, one of Elvis Presley’s used Bibles sold for $94,000. I have bought numerous used Christian books for pennies on the dollar. The actual used bible may have been worth $5.
Why is there such crazy value on things like these? Because value is determined by what someone with means is willing to pay for them. Think about this in terms of the owner and creator of everything, God, who was willing to pay the infinite price for people, the death of His Son.
- John 3:16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son…
- Acts 20:28 The church of God, which He purchased with His own blood.
- 1 Corinthians 6:20; 7:23 You were bought with a price…
God Himself initiated, provided, and paid the ultimate cost for our redemption through the eternal blood of Jesus. Jesus suffered the wrath we deserved because He saw an eternal value in us. When we begin to see people the way God sees them, every person is worth the life of His Son; it changes everything. It changes how we perceive ourselves and others.
This approach and attitude towards others and ourselves are the very things that will cause His light to shine brightly in the midst of the sinful, emotional darkness that surrounds the holiday season.
May we walk in eternal gratitude towards God and see His value this holiday season! Let His light shine through you, even in the shadows.
When we begin to see people the way God sees them, every person is worth the life of His Son; it changes everything. It changes how we perceive ourselves and how we perceive and treat others.