Fear or Cheer?

With Christmas just days away, instead of joy and hope, America is overflowing with fright and doom.

I for one have had enough of the fear mongering.

Yes, we should take necessary precautions, but we cannot allow fear to rule our lives.

As we celebrate the joyous season of Jesus Christ’s birth, there is nothing wrong with saturating our hearts with cheer.

You can’t have cheer without hope.

Yes, Covid-19 is still there. Christians are discriminated against. The economy isn’t what it could be. Communism bares its ugly teeth at us all. Tensions across the globe are rising. There are many good reasons to fear, but…

Does fear empower us?

To quote Norman Vincent Peale in his 1952 book titled, The Power of Positive Thinking:

Think defeat and you are bound to feel defeated. But practice thinking confident thoughts, making it a dominating habit, and you will develop such a strong sense of capacity that regardless of what difficulties arise you will be able to overcome them. Feelings of confidence actually induce increased strength.

We must stop allowing the struggles of today fill our hearts with hopelessness. Like fear, a lack of hope weakens us.

On the contrary, the Bible is very clear on the benefits of cheer:

A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a broken spirit saps a person’s strength. Proverbs 17:22

A cheerful look brings joy to the heart; good news makes for good health. Proverbs 15:30

Fear or cheer, the choice is yours.

When you change the lens of how you view the world, oppression becomes opportunity.

For example, there are supply chain issues, showing the need for more production here at home. America needs more innovation. More factories. More farms. More hope.

So, instead of feeling like this Christmas is our last, sapping our strength and weakening our hearts, we should take a cheerier outlook to uplift our souls.

Maybe this is the last Christmas of world-wide persecution against Christians.

Maybe this is the last Christmas dealing with Covid-19.

Maybe this is the last Christmas with division and hate ripping America apart.

Maybe this is the last Christmas of thinner pockets and labor shortages.

Maybe this is the last Christmas with empty shelves and the pains of lack.

Maybe this is the last Christmas of American stores filled with, “Made in China.”

Even if this is the last Christmas, period, wouldn’t it be better to spend it with a feeling of hope?

No matter what the conditions of the world, we’re living it, might as well be living in cheer.