by Angelica Bevelle, student, University of Chicago (Chicago, Illinois)
As the Christmas holiday nears, one word that comes to my mind is: competition. People spend countless minutes and dollars striving to give the best gifts, donate the most money, and help the most people. We forget the real reason we celebrate this holiday.
Since childhood, we have been taught to win, to be the best. More attention is given to teaching us to compete than to cooperate. The importance of power is drilled into our heads. With such influences we forget our role of servants, as Jesus was to his disciples, and become like the disciples, arguing who is best. It’s easy to be like this; it’s the way of the world.
But we aren’t of this world. We have cast aside our worldly desires to follow in Christ’s footsteps, as servants and peacemakers. With Christ as our ultimate model, we must remember to humble ourselves and become like the youngest. We must remember that as Christians we should work together to bring peace, love, and justice to the world, and that can best be done together, not competing for seniority.
PRAYER
God of humility, remind us to be humble. Help us to cast off our pride and become like the youngest. Give us the desire to come together to improve our world, following in the footsteps of Jesus. Amen.