How to Have a Happy Holiday Season | The Joy in Giving

Today's episode of A New Beginning is brought to you by Harvest Partners, helping people everywhere know God.

Learn more at harvest.org. And while you're there, browse our library of free e-books designed to help you grow in your faith. But the truth is serving and giving to others will bring happiness to you. When we talk to friends and co-workers right after Christmas, they'll often ask, well, what did you get for Christmas? How many times has someone asked you, well, what did you give?

Hmm, that doesn't usually come up. But today on A New Beginning, Pastor Greg Laurie points out there's more joy in what we've given than what we've received. Good encouragement to take with us as we march full speed ahead into Black Friday.

And Pastor Greg has even more encouragement coming. Well, I have a special message for you today, and I want you to turn in your Bibles to Romans chapter 13. And the title of my message is how to have a happy holiday season. I have four things to share with you. Number one, if you want to have a happy holiday season, this is a no-brainer, remember the reason for the season.

Remember the reason for the season. Christmas is a celebration of the happiest message of all time. The Son of God came to our planet, yes, to be born in the manger in Bethlehem, then to die on the cross of Calvary, and then to rise again from the dead. He came to change the world. He came to change our lives.

And the angels said to the shepherds, keeping watch over their flocks by night, don't be afraid. I bring you good news that will bring joy to all people. But a lot of people don't have this joy because they're expecting Christmas to bring the joy. Christmas cannot bring the joy.

Christ can. See, that's the difference. It's important. It's not merriment. It's the Messiah. It's not presence under the tree. It's the presence of God in our life.

That's the primary message. And we need to keep sight of that because we as Christians even can get caught up in all of the crazy activities of endless events that you're expected to attend. And before you know it, God's only begotten Son becomes God's only forgotten Son. And we can lose Jesus at Christmas, can't we? So keep Christ at the forefront of your life this Christmas, and you'll have a happy holiday. Number two, if you want to have a happy holiday, spend time with loved ones.

In other words, don't isolate yourself. Be with family and be with friends. Number three, if you want to be happy in the holiday, be grateful for what you have. If you want to be happy in this holiday, be grateful for what you have. Psychologists say, quote, gratitude has a lot to do with life satisfaction. Talking and writing about what they're grateful for amplifies the happiness of an adult. Experts say savor even the small pleasures. Sometimes we get so psyched for the big stuff, we miss the little stuff, and we're waiting for the big moment, and we miss the in-between moments.

And I think the in-between moments are some of the best. You know, like Christmas, all about the present. The present, you know, will they be excited by the present I bought them? Or, you know, the person receiving it, how do I act like I'm excited when I'm not, right?

You ever had to do that? You open it, and it's just like sheer disappointment. Oh wow, thank you.

Where did you get this? Because I want to just go to the store and thank them for carrying it. No, you ask that question because you want to know how to return it. And don't be one of those people that buys ugly clothes for people and asks people to wear them. Because most likely your opinion and style is lousy, okay?

But you think it's great. Oh, I got this, wear this. Well, what if they don't like it? Whenever I give anything to anyone, I say, here's where I bought it. If you want to return it, I'm fine with that. I just want you to be happy.

But other people, buy you the ugly sweater, they expect you to wear the ugly sweater, right? But anyway, the in-between moments, those little moments, instead of the big thing that you're building up to, just enjoy that meal with your family or that funny thing that just happened to you. Write these things down. Reflect back on those things. Give thanks to God.

Number four, if you want to have a happy holiday season, this is a big one, don't miss it. Focus on giving instead of receiving this Christmas. Focus on giving instead of receiving this Christmas. Jesus said, it is more blessed to give than it is to receive.

We've heard this many times. But understand the word blessed means happy. So let me say it a different way. Jesus is saying, it'll make you happier when you give than when you receive. Now, that seems counterintuitive because we think, no, you're happier when you receive. You're happier when you get what you want.

No, you're happier when you give something to someone else. Children by nature are selfish, comes naturally to all of us. You can have two kids playing. Have one child playing alone with a toy. They're happy. Another child sees that toy.

Suddenly they fight over the one toy. I remember my granddaughter, I would buy them a gift. I would say, I'm going to get this for one of my grandkids. And my wife would say, you have five grandchildren.

You better buy five of them. Maybe I won't get it. I don't know. But if I got them a doll when they were younger, it had to be the same doll. If the dolls all had dark hair and one had blonde, they all wanted that one. I don't know why. So it had to be even.

Everything's even because there's something about someone having something that we want. I remember years ago when I was a little kid. Now, this is actually in the 50s. That's how old I am. I was alive in the 50s.

This is late 50s, so but still. I was a little kid. So a friend of mine got a gift for Christmas. I got a gift. I was very happy with my gift until I saw his gift.

I wanted his gift and I was no longer happy with my gift. And you know what it was? It was this plastic skin diver that you put batteries in and he sunk to the bottom of the pool. That's it. This is 50s tech, people.

We weren't sophisticated back then. But bubbles came out and I thought, I wish I had a sinking plastic skin diver. Let's see, but we just carry this on through life. It can just continue on. Focus on giving instead of receiving. Scientific research shows us it's actually happier to give than it is to receive. It's a well-documented fact that volunteering will elevate your mood. Volunteering will elevate your mood. And this has been dubbed by experts, I'm not making this up, as the helper's high. The helper's high. Haven't you ever experienced that? You do something for someone else.

It might be a small gesture. Can I help you with that? Can I help you load those groceries in your car? Can I help you over here? Let me just give this to you.

Someone admires something. Here, you can have it. What? Just take it. You can have it. Wow, I can't believe you're giving me your chewed gum. I know, here. It's ABC gum, already been chewed.

It's for you, take it. But there's a kind of euphoric feeling you can feel. I know it seems counterintuitive, but the truth is serving and giving to others will bring happiness to you. Proverbs 11 25 says, generous will prosper.

Listen to this. Those who refresh others will themselves be refreshed. As I refresh others, I myself am refreshed. If I bless others, I myself am blessed. As I seek to make others happy, I myself experience personal happiness.

Turn that around. When it's all about me, when it's all about my happiness, when it's all about my needs being met, I'm generally not very happy and my needs are not met because I don't understand this important biblical principle of Jesus when he says it's more blessed to give than it is to receive. Pastor Greg Laurie will have the second half of his message in just a moment. So many listeners have commented on the help they receive from Pastor Greg's teachings. God's Word ministers to them, and it often gets them through some of their darkest hours.

Hi, Pastor Greg. I want to send you an enormous thank you. In spite of the unrelenting years worth of storms I've been going through, Jesus has been my rock in large part through your daily podcast messages. Your humor made me laugh on days when I struggled not to cry, and your impactful practical message picked me up on days I felt like I was on the floor.

While the storms in my life have not subsided, they no longer make me feel like I'm drowning. God bless you, Pastor Greg, for your constant support and encouragement. We're so happy that these daily studies are touching and changing lives.

If your life has been impacted, would you tell us your story? Email Pastor Greg. Send it to Greg at harvest dot org. Again, that's Greg at harvest dot o-r-g. Well, Pastor Greg is pointing out today how there's more blessing in giving than receiving.

He continues his message now called, How to Have a Happy Holiday Season. But what can we give to God? The Psalm, Psalm 116. What shall I give unto the Lord for all He has given unto me? I mean, what could I ever give to God? Well, there's actually three things you can give to God. Every believer has these three things to offer to God, no matter how rich you are, how poor you are, how young you are, how old you are.

If you're a man, if you're a woman, doesn't matter. Everyone can give these three things to God. If you're a man, if you're a man, you might want to write them down. Treasure, talent, and time. Treasure, talent, and time. First, we bring God our treasure. Jesus said, Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. It's the act of giving. It's the act of giving of my finances to God. And this is an area that some Christians have not understood. They don't understand that it's a great joy to invest your financial resources into God's kingdom. Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 9-7, Let everyone give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or out of necessity, for God loves a cheerful giver. A cheerful giver, a happy giver. Paul writes about the believers in Macedonia who heard about the needs of the believers in Jerusalem, so they received an offering.

And I love what he writes. He says in 2 Corinthians 8-4, They begged us again and again for the gracious privilege of sharing in the gift for the Christians in Jerusalem. They begged us, Oh, can we do it again? Can we give another offering? Wow, begging to give?

That's pretty unusual, but that's how we should be. And God will bless us when we're willing to give and invest in his kingdom. So we bring our treasure to God, but then also we bring our talent to God. God gives to every one of us talent, certain abilities. In fact, in Matthew 25, Jesus told a parable, and everyone was given talents. One was given five talents of gold, another two, another one. And Jesus said, and the one he gave five talents to, another two, another one, each one according to his own ability. So God has given us different gifts.

It's interesting how different we all are. Some have the ability to speak publicly. Some are better working behind the scenes. Some have business acumen. Others do not.

Some have athletic skills. Others do not. Some have an ability to sing.

Others do not. But whatever it is, it's a gift to you from God, and God wants you to take your skills and your talents and offer them to him for his glory. Whatever it is, God can use your talents. And the last thing that God gives to us, he gives us treasure, he gives us talent, and he gives us time, time.

What a precious commodity that is. And you that are older, I think you would agree with me, doesn't it seem like time is passing more quickly? And so we want to take advantage of the time that God has given us. Every morning, God deposits in the bank of time 1,440 minutes.

That equals 24 hours. Now you have to sleep for some of that, right? I don't know how long you sleep, but that's time. Now you have to spend that time.

What you don't spend is forfeited forever. But let's be honest, we waste time. I'll tell you one thing we all waste time with.

You know what I'm going to say, don't you? That little phone. And I've done it too. You get into scrolling, just scrolling, scrolling, scrolling, and watching those crazy videos that people post or whatever it is, and you look and you realize how much time you've actually wasted. I read that the average American spends more than 1,300 hours on social media in one year. And then we binge watch things.

I'm going to watch eight episodes of this new series. And then there's things we can't control that we waste so much time doing. Sitting at stoplights. And what do we do when we sit at a stoplight? Start scrolling, right?

What's going on? So the thing is, we spend all this time waiting. But I have a choice as to what I do with this precious commodity God has given to me called time.

That brings us to the passage that I referenced, Romans 13. This is more urgent. You know how late it is. Time is running out. Our salvation is near than when we first believed.

The night is almost over. The day of salvation is almost here. So remove your dark deeds like dirty clothes and put on the shining armor of right living. So look at your life and get rid of the things that displease God and put on the armor of light.

Why? Because time is short. Another translation of Romans 13 is knowing the time we should redeem the time or make sacred and wise use of every opportunity. Because one day life is over and when it's over it's over. And you can't buy more time. No matter how much money you have you cannot buy more time. And God determines the length of our life.

So there's a day of birth and there's a day of death for each of us. John Rockefeller in his day was one of the wealthiest men who ever lived. And when he died someone asked his accountant how much did he leave. The accountant said he left all of it. Yeah.

Right? That's true of us. How much will you leave? You'll leave everything.

All of it. You can't take it with you. Many will give everything for gold on earth but in heaven they pave the streets with it.

No I can't take it with me but I can send it on ahead. How so? By laying up for yourself treasure in heaven. So every dollar you invest in spiritual things every prayer you pray every act of service you give for the glory of God is duly noted because then when it's over it's over. So let's review and close and how to have a happy holiday season.

Number one. Remember the reason for the season. It's a celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ. Keep that at the forefront of your mind. Though it's something of a cliche it's still true. Keep Christ in Christmas and make sure you tell others about Christ in the Christmas season.

Number two. If you want a happy holiday spend time with loved ones. Don't isolate yourself. Remember the church is here for you. You can meet people and develop friendships and maybe you don't have a close-knit family you can have a new close-knit family.

Number three. If you want a happy holiday be grateful for what you have. Remember to specifically give thanks to God for even the smallest of things. Have an attitude of gratitude. Make the choice to rejoice and lastly focus on giving instead of receiving.

Think of ways you can give. People you can give to and you'll have the helpers high and you'll have the blessing that God offers to you. Again as scripture says as I refresh others I am also refreshed. And then finally just remember it's all about a relationship with God. Christmas isn't going to fill a hole in your heart but Christ can and he will.

As I already said it's not those presents under a tree it's his presence in our life. And as we close today maybe there's someone who has joined us who doesn't have this relationship with God. And we want you to know the reason Jesus left the glory of heaven and descended to our sad little planet and was born in a manger filled with straw surrounded by animals was so he could go then die on the cross for your sin and rise again from the dead and come into your heart and life. And if you've never asked Jesus to come into your life to be your Savior and Lord you can do it right now as we close in prayer.

Let's all pray. If you've never asked Jesus to come into your life to be your Savior and Lord just pray this prayer with me right now. Let's pray Lord Jesus come into my life. I know that I'm a sinner but I know that you're the Savior who was born in that manger for me and died on the cross for my sin and rose again from the dead. Now I ask you to come into my heart and be my God and my Lord.

I choose to follow you from this moment forward. Thank you for hearing this prayer and answering this prayer. In Jesus name I ask it.

Amen. Pastor Greg Laurie praying with those who are making a decision for the Lord today. It's an important day for them and let's keep them in prayer as they begin walking with the Lord. But we want to offer some help if you've just prayed that prayer today with Pastor Greg. Let us send you his New Believers Bible. It's in the New Living Translation, very easy to understand and Pastor Greg has hundreds of helps especially for New Believers. So we'll send you the New Believers Bible without charge when you call 1-800-821-3300. Call anytime 1-800-821-3300 or write A New Beginning, Box 4000, Riverside, CA 92514 or go online to harvest.org and click Know God. Well Pastor Greg you have a brand new devotional book for the holiday season. It's full of 25 devotions that take us day by day right up to the the day of Christmas in the month of December. Tell us about this book and your hope for what it will accomplish in our lives.

Yeah I'd be happy to. So let me read to you a little bit from the introduction of the book. Cue Christmas music. When the Son of God was born to Mary in Bethlehem of Judea everything changed. Through time and eternity nothing would or could ever be the same. Christmas changed everything and that's because Christ changes everything and all the politically correct scholars and woke writers and all the newsrooms and universities of the world can't change that truth. It is the hinge of history.

When God himself entered the world in human form, when the great creator of the universe became a baby boy, planet earth was transformed forever and so are we. So that just gives you a sense of what this book is all about. The title of the book is Heaven's Light Breaking and basically it's 25 devotions one for every day of the month of December.

Hey if you get it before you can even read it in November. You can read it whenever you want but specifically it's designed to be read in December as you make your way to Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. What your focus ought to be, the things that should be at the forefront of your heart and mind as we think about the birth of Jesus Christ and we want to send you a copy of this brand new Christmas devotional Heaven's Light Breaking for your gift of any size and when you send this gift it ensures that we will continue to come your way on this radio broadcast that has probably become a part of your life that's called A New Beginning. So order your copy of this brand new Christmas devotional called Heaven's Light Breaking. We're looking forward to sending you a copy. Yeah that's right it's a beautiful hardcover book and we have it waiting for you right now.

It's easy to make the arrangements just call 1-800-821-3300. We can take your call right now anytime 24 7 1-800-821-3300 or write us at A New Beginning Box 4000 Riverside California 92514 or go online to harvest.org. Again the title Heaven's Light Breaking. Well next time Pastor Greg launches a compelling new series called The End of the World What Does the Bible Say?

So many are asking that question right now. Join us here on A New Beginning with pastor and Bible teacher Greg Laurie. Hey everybody thanks for listening to A New Beginning. This is a podcast made possible by Harvest Partners so for more content that can help you know God and equip you to make him known to others or to learn more about how you can become a Harvest Partner just go to harvest.org