"as you do unto others, so you have done unto Me..."

 Wondering how to celebrate Christmas? Here are some ideas...hug the hurt, kiss the broken, befriend the lost, love the lonely...the perfect gifts to give in Jesus' name...

 As holiday time approaches, there are those who are cringing at the thought of being around two things: parties and alcohol that in all likelihood will be served there. As the night wears on, the drinking flows freely until soon folks are either stumbling around or pass out on whatever flat surface is available.

I get many letters from those who ask me how to deal with the drinking, not just at holiday time, but ALL the time. Drinking is not relegated only to holiday parties....it is a daily event/struggle for alcoholics who can't seem to deny themselves of the intoxicating fluids. As one reader put it, "how do I change him?"

The answer is simple, yet complex.

 It is better to be satisfied with someone you love than dissatisfied. From the goodness of your heart, you may want a loved one to change, and, yet, the only person you can change is yourself. Surely, you have learned this already.

How does a plant grow? By watering and sunshine. You can’t order a plant to grow. You can’t order a flower to bloom. You can’t order a tree to bear fruit. You can love an almond tree, but you can not ask it to become a peach tree.
In what you desire for another, you may be absolutely right. Nevertheless, it is not your place to demand. Your choice is to nourish. You cannot demand change from another. You can demand change only from yourself. It is not for you to give commands. It is for you to love and bless. Love and blessing come first. Love and blessing work wonders. If you really want to help someone grow, then love them. Love them as they are, and they will grow. There is nothing like love to nourish.
If you want to make someone strong, love him or her. Correction may dissolve another’s strength rather than strengthen. You must allow another free will. Free will does not infringe on another. Your jurisdiction is over yourself, not another.

You may desire peace. The way to have peace is to give it. 

this brings to mind another story I received last week:

 "Every morning when I got off the commuter train, I'd pass this homeless man on my way to work," Bonnie relates.  "I've never gotten involved with people like this, because I have mixed feelings---would my donation buy drugs for them, or enable them to stay helpless?"  Perhaps.  Yet, Bonnie seemed drawn to this particular vagrant. She found herself asking a different question: What would Jesus have her do?

    Gradually Bonnie made eye contact with this man.  Brief conversations followed.  His name was Phil, he told her, and he had been on the streets about a year.  Beyond that, he would not elaborate.  Sometimes Bonnie's only connection with Phil was a smile, and a cheery greeting.  At other times, she'd bring him a sandwich, or give him some coins.  "The people at my office teased me unmercifully," she says."They felt I was a "soft touch," and hopelessly gullible."  But she kept on; somehow it just seemed right.

    One day, however, Phil was not at his usual post.  Weeks passed, and he didn't return.  Bonnie was concerned, but the merchants and police officers along her route didn't know what had happened to him.  Gradually, she forgot too...
Until one morning when, as she passed the corner, someone called her name.  She turned around.  Coming toward her was Phil!  But not the same disheveled beggar she had befriended over a year ago.  No, this Phil was clean-shaven, clear-eyed, wearing a suit and a smile.  "Phil!" she gasped, "what happened to you?"

 "You did, Bonnie."  He was standing in front of her now, and she could hardly believe the change in him.
    "Me? I didn't..."
    "Oh,  but you did.  You, and two men who work together on the next block.  For that whole year I lived on the streets, you three were the only ones who saw me a person.  You looked at me, and talked to me.  One day I asked myself: if there are three people in the world who believe in me, why can't I believe in me?  So I went into rehab, and here I am."
    He had a job, he explained, and wouldn't be downtown any more.  So he had come to his old corner one last time, to see if he could locate the three who had changed his life.  "I found the men yesterday," Phil explained. "I was just waiting for you."
    "Whatever you do to the least of My children, you do to Me."  Bonnie could hardly see Phil through the tears in her eyes.  But she knew now the Source of that unusual urge to "get involved, if only in a small way."  How glad she was that she had listened to that small voice within her!