Do you feel alone?
One out of every four teenagers does. Researchers asked teens around the world to rate their loneliness in 2023, and 25 percent said they felt lonely or very lonely. The rates are even higher with young adults. That’s a problem, according to the United States Surgeon General, because loneliness can be as bad for your health as smoking up to 15 cigarettes a day!
Why are teens so lonely? Things like bullying, family problems, social media, a breakup, or moving to another school all make teens feel alone and lonely. But if you are a Christian, you might be lonely for another reason—because you feel spiritually alone.
Spiritually Alone
Many of us have to walk with God by ourselves. Shawna does. She recently started reading the Bible and praying. God has given her so much peace. But her parents are nominal Catholics, and most of her friends aren’t Christian. Her boyfriend thinks she’s a bit crazy for being interested in this “Jesus stuff.” It’s hard for Shawna to stay strong, but she’s committed to continuing her new friendship with Jesus.
But we sometimes feel another kind of spiritual loneliness, even if we don’t admit it out loud. We fear that maybe God isn’t really with us or doesn’t care about us personally. We wonder if our sins have made God angry, or perhaps He’s just more interested in other people.
Ayden wonders about it. He’s been a Christian all his life, and he can’t point to a conversion moment like some people can. He tries to follow God, but he knows he has done some things that make God sad. Does God love him even when he sins?
If you’ve ever felt like Shawna or Ayden, it’s time to celebrate Christmas!
Christmas? How does celebrating it help me feel better? Let’s go back and look at the Christmas story with fresh eyes so we can see what it shows us about God and how exquisitely He loves each of us.
Christmas: God’s Ancient Rescue Plan
The Christmas story actually began millennia before Jesus became a fetus in the womb of a young Hebrew girl. Romans 16:25 tells us that Jesus was the “revelation of the mystery kept secret since the world began.”
That means that long before Jesus created the world or Adam and Eve sinned, God had a plan in place to rescue His children if they should fall. That rescue plan included you.
God foresaw your birth. He knew about the circumstances of your life and the challenges you would face. He knew the loneliness you would feel as you walk the Christian pathway. And He planned ahead to rescue you from your hopelessness by giving you the most amazing present possible—Jesus.
Immanuel: God’s Most Amazing Gift
Doesn’t it make you feel loved when someone goes out of their way to do something thoughtful for you? Or to give you a thoughtful present that really fits you?
That’s precisely what God did for you in Jesus. He wrapped up all the love and goodness and grace and mercy and joy of heaven and miraculously spliced it into the DNA of a human embryo. God became one with humanity in a way we can never understand. Then He placed His love gift to you in Mary’s uterus and gave Him time to grow into a tiny, fragile baby who would be born in Bethlehem, grow up in the toxic town of Nazareth, and eventually give His life for your salvation on Calvary.
“’Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,’ which is translated, ‘God with us’” (Matthew 1:23).
What did God give you in Jesus? The apostle Paul says that He gave you “every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ” (Ephesians 1:3). That means that when you accept Jesus as your Savior, you also receive everything good that heaven has to offer.
That’s a pretty incredible gift! God loves you so much that He gave you the best in Jesus.
God’s Answer to Your Loneliness
Are you alone? Never! Jesus gave you a fantastic promise before He returned to heaven: ‘I am with you always, even to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:20).
He is with you. Always.
It doesn’t matter what others have done to you or said about you. Jesus is with you.
It doesn’t matter how broken or successful you may feel. Jesus is with you.
It doesn’t matter whether you’re surrounded by other Christians or walk alone. Jesus is with you.
It doesn’t matter how sinful you have been. Jesus is with you, and He will still welcome you back if you run to Him for forgiveness.
Yes, Jesus is Immanuel—God with us. You are loved!
“For God so [greatly] loved and dearly prized the world, that He [even] gave His [One and] only begotten Son, so that whoever believes and trusts in Him [as Savior] shall not perish, but have eternal life” (John 3:16, Amplified Version).
That’s something worth celebrating at Christmas and all year long!
Check out these resources from Amazing Facts:
• “The Christian and Christmas” by Pastor Doug Batchelor
• “What is Christmas to You?”