The holiday season often inspires feelings of warmth, joy, and belonging. Nevertheless, for some people, this time of the year could evoke feelings of loneliness, stress, and anxiety. Despite long-held belief and media coverage, the suicide rate is actually lower during the holiday season. However, it does not mean that the holiday season is not a depressing or stressful time for some people.
Because Thanksgiving and Christmas have become so commercialized, it is easy to focus on what we don’t have and be depressed about it. Moreover, because Thanksgiving and Christmas are the time you spend with family, it would be a hard time for someone who does not have family or whose family members live so far from each other. Therefore, holiday blues are a real phenomenon. However, Scripture offers us some tips on how to overcome holiday blues.
What Scripture says
In 1 Thessalonians chapter 5, verses 16–18, the apostle Paul exhorts the Thessalonians Christians to rejoice, pray continually, and give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God. Even though the Thessalonians were being persecuted at the time, Paul didn’t give them an excuse to complain, but exhort them to give thanks to God in all situations.
Charles Spurgeon said, “Let us daily praise God for common mercies-common as we frequently call them, and yet so priceless that when deprived of them, we are ready to perish.” In other words, be thankful for the things that God has given to you to enjoy, such as hot water, food, detergent, heater, a place to live, family photos, and some friends. We often think that we are entitled to these things, but never realizes that these things come from God, who is gracious to give them to us.
If you focus on the things that you don’t have, of course, you will feel ungrateful. However, when you acknowledge that all things come from the gracious God, then you should spend the holiday season thanking Him for the things that He has given you.
A season of giving
The holiday season is not a season of taking but a season of giving. It is more blessed to give because God loves a cheerful giver. The holiday season is a perfect opportunity to invite someone over for dinner. Maybe you should host a dinner party and invite your friends over. It is better to give than to receive. You could be family to someone who does not have a family, and then you will have a family. You can invite your church members to come over for dinner, or they can invite you.
My point is that the church should be there for those who feel depressed. The holiday season is a perfect time to express your love toward one another. Jesus said in John chapter 13, verse 35, “By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”
The holidays could be tough for some Christians, but it is better with Jesus. Jesus is the reason for the season. It is easy to focus on things that you don’t have and feel depressed. However, remember that the holiday season is a season of thanksgiving. It is about being thankful for the things that God has given us to enjoy.
It is a tremendous blessing to have nice things and family during the holiday season. However, you need to recognize that all goods things come from God, the Father of light (James chapter 1, verse 17). Therefore, the key for a happy holidays is “giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name our Lord Jesus Christ” (Ephesians chapter 5, verse 20).
Dat Nguyen is a student at the Master’s Seminary and a member of Grace Community Church in Los Angeles, California. I desire to be a faithful minister of the Word of God. I love playing basketball and American football and watching movies.