Preparing Our Hearts: Five Priorities for Holiday Success

The holidays can be very hectic and overwhelming. But holiday success is within reach if you focus on the right things.

It’s the holiday season and my Instagram algorithm has been showing me Thanksgiving tablescapes and Christmas mantles since late September. Have you noticed this, too?

The algorithm knows me well because I absolutely love all things holiday-related: exploring the woods to gather greens, planning special tea parties, hosting crafting nights with friends, decorating sugar cookies, enjoying candlelight strolls, Christmas shopping—you name it, I adore it.

However, before I dive into this wonderful season, I’ve learned that it’s wise for me to plan how I will celebrate and prepare for the upcoming festivities. This isn’t just about making a list and checking it twice to ensure everything is Pinterest-perfect. I mean proactively planning how I will conduct myself as a Christian woman who wants to bring glory to God. 

When energy is low and expectations are high, when a jam-packed schedule leaves me with too much sugar and not enough sleep, I need to determine how I will respond. The last thing I want to do is to sin against my family or my God.

This approach may not sound like your typical holiday planning, but purposing to do right and planning ahead spiritually is half the battle. The other half is doing the right you know, in the moment, yielding your whole life to God. (Rom. 12:1)

Five Priorities For the Christian Woman

As Christian Women this holiday season:

1. We want to live faithfully according to the Word of God. The Bible is the authoritative guide for all of life. (2 Tim. 2:15, 1 Cor. 4:2) In James 1, the Bible is likened to a mirror, providing us with a true reflection of our lives in comparison to our incomparable Christ. Unlike friends or social media, this Mirror never sugar coats the truth, flatters. or excuses sin. Its purpose is to transform us into the image of Christ. It does this by illuminating minds blinded by sin, showing the right path, and leading leading us away from the bondage of life dominating sins into the beauty of holiness.
   
   Therefore, we must look into this mirror and prioritize time in the Word in every season of life. We must meditate on Scripture, allowing the Word of Christ dwell in us.  How do we do this in the midst of the hustle and bustle of the holidays? One wise approach is to display a few well-placed Bible verses within sight, maybe where you fold the laundry or wash the dishes. It’s a proactive way to redirect your thoughts on truth and eternity.

2. We must strive to do all our work for God’s glory. We know that whether we eat or drink, or whatsoever we do (including our event and holiday planning!) we must do it all for the glory of God. And we’re told that whatever we do in word or deed, it must be done “in the name of Jesus Christ”.(Col.3:17).To act “in the name of Jesus” means that we faithfully represent His interests,  purposes, and will. We avoid practicing what God hates and forbids. (Col. 3:5-8) Our work must be done His Way. Just as it would be unacceptable and irresponsible for an Amazon driver to toss a package marked “Fragile”  to your doorstep and claim it was delivered, how we conduct ourselves in our work matters. 

2. We must seek the things that are above (Col. 3:1-3) and to remain focused on the reality of heaven even amid our earthly tasks. This isn’t some detached outlook, but a call to remember that we are in Christ now and are promised an eternity and an inheritance in the future! Seeking the things above also means living now as the Kingdom citizens we already are. We do this by practicing Kingdom ways in our dealing with others. (See Col. 3:12) A woman who is seeking things above will respond like her Father.
   
   She’ll be kind in the face of unkindness. She’ll be humble and meek in the face of insult or injury and will not inflict pain on the person who injured her. She will be patient with difficult circumstances and entrust herself to God. She will be longsuffering to the irritating person who makes life hard. She will forgive because she remembers that God has forgiven a lifetime of her sins. She will put on love because it’s the defining mark of a Christian and the first duty commanded.

4. We must set our affections on things above, not on things that are on the earth. (Col. 3:2) Does this mean that we can’t think about how to do our work, run our homes, raise our kids? No, but our mind and driving purpose, our entire orientation is focused on Christ. He is the purpose and goal. Remember that old infomercial “Set it and forget it!?” What if we applied that silly slogan to our mindset as well? Set it: Make a conscious decision to think about and live with eternity in view. Forget it: Let go of “what ifs” and “if onlys,” and dismiss the “should haves, would haves, and could haves.”Don’t let the temporal bind us to this earth. Look up! In all our work, Christ is the ultimate goal. 

5. We should be thankful. We have so much to be thankful for! Unlike those who don’t know Christ and are characterized by discontentment and unthankfulness (Rom. 1) Christians are characterized by thankfulness and praise. (Col.3:17)). Count your blessings and you won’t have time to dwell on the negatives of life.

This holiday season, let’s use the metrics of Scripture to prioritize our to-do list. Did we interact with the family with patience? Did we cook with love? Did we donate with compassion? Did we decorate with humility? We can still consider the Thanksgiving meal a success if we burnt the rolls or had lumpy gravy but made the meal with a spirit of patience and a heart of love for others.

Conversely, if we serve a perfectly seasoned prime rib roast but worked with an undercurrent of irritation or self-pity in our hearts, we can’t say we’ve worked for God’s way. Let’s seek His will and ways in all we do this season. It’s all for His glory!