My Christmas wish

Do you know what I want for Christmas this year? All I want for Christmas this year is peace, joy and patience and I really, really mean it.

Peace

Peace is a sign of harmony characterized by the lack of violence, conflict behaviors and the freedom from fear of violence. I want peace in my mind, in my spirit, in my soul and above all, I want peace in the family. Inner peace (or peace of mind) refers to a state of being mentally and spiritually at peace, with enough knowledge and understanding to keep one strong and this time, I really want to achieve the calmness and serenity that comes with inner peace. I want to be patient. I know that this develops over time and I need to be patient. I guess, all these three things which I am aspiring for are interrelated. And so, I am challenging myself to be very intentional about how I focus my attention.

All these will be possible for me with meditation, relaxation, sleep, massage and stress reduction. There is a lot of negative energy and craziness in this world, but I want to learn to live with inner peace. I have understood that inner peace comes from allowing every experience to be exactly as it is without any judgement. So I try not to judge nowadays. This has brought me calmness, peacefulness and energy that is priceless. I experience inner quietness in all aspects of my life and also a sense of harmony inside. Every day I am learning how to quiet my mind and find inner peace and happiness in any situation I am in.

It was prophesied that Jesus would be "the Prince of Peace" (Isa. 9: 6). In the Bible the word peace has a wide range of meanings. Basically it includes the ideas of wholeness, well-being, prosperity, and security. The Old Testament understanding of Peace is different and the principal word used to express the idea of peace in Hebrew Bible is 'Shalom'.

Joy

Joy may refer to happiness which is an emotion. The secular perception of joy is "lasting happiness." However, the Bible interprets joy very differently. The happy state that results from knowing and serving God is what joy is. A number of Greek and Hebrew words are used in the Bible to convey the ideas of joy and rejoicing. Joy is a state of mind and an orientation of the heart. It is a settled state of contentment, confidence and hope. Faith brings joy - therefore, since we have been made right in God's sight by faith, we have peace with God because of Jesus Christ our Lord. The Bible makes a distinction between happiness and joy. Joy is stronger and more spiritually dynamic of the two emotions.

The joy of Jesus was His absolute self-surrender and self-sacrifice to His Father— the joy of doing that which the Father sent Him to do.


Patience

Patience (or forbearing) is the state of endurance under difficult circumstances, which can mean persevering in the face of delay or provocation without acting on. Fortunately, patience is a virtue that can be cultivated and nurtured over time. Patience is a person's ability to wait something out or endure something tedious, without getting riled up. So I want patience at home and while teaching my students.

This virtue of the mind which is called patience is so great a gift of God that even in Him who bestows the same upon us, that, whereby He waits for evil men. The Bible has a lot of verses about patience and how it is an extremely important virtue that helps us wait on God’s timing. We find a lot of verses on being patient in Christ. The Bible patience verses are designed to help us slow down and focus on what God's Word says about waiting on the Lord. The word translated “patience” in this verse means “endurance.” A Christian runs the race patiently by persevering through difficulties.

Patience in the biblical sense, therefore, is not just a question of temperament or restlessness; patience is a way of thinking about and responding to the difficult.