Christianity is fundamentally a way of getting rid of sin. it is much more than that, yes, but not less. As a son or daughter of Adam, you bear his stain, but Christ removes that stain. Just like blueberry jam on a child’s fingers, though, that stain doesn’t stay put: it spreads and spreads, and the next week you are finding blue smears on the closet ceiling. Pretty much everywhere you go, there you sin.

Now imagine 15 jam-stained toddlers all crowding into one white-carpeted playroom. That’s your upcoming Christmas festivities. You’re planning to get a bunch of sinners together for an extended period. What do you think they are going to do? They’re going to sin. Blueberry jam is likely to get everywhere. How could it not?

Hurt feelings, ingratitude, slights real and imagined, avarice on the part of the children, avarice on the part of the adults, envious comparisons, gossip, stinginess, irresponsibility, and so on.

It’s gonna happen. How could it not? So arm yourselves with two things.

First, be prepared to cover things in love. Remember Proverbs 19:11, “It is his glory to pass over a transgression.” Consider the example of your heavenly Father who passes over your slights and selfishness for the sake of the righteousness of Christ that is yours. Offer your work and your gifts to God, and when you get taken advantage of, or people aren’t grateful enough, when they’re rude and thoughtless, consider how much you have been forgiven and be content.

And second, confess your sins. Start now. The glory and scandal of the gospel is that though your sins are as scarlet, you can be white as snow. It’s easy for the spirit of unbelieving Christmas celebrations to be sort of a “in the gentle glow of Christmas lights, we’re all basically good, group hug!” Reject that with every fiber of your being. Instead, remember with gladness and fear that if we say we have no sin, we are liars and the truth is not in us, but if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. That is the only path to peace and joy.