I look back at my 28th year marked with achievements and disappointments, newly explored places and the comfort in familiar faces. I’ve made some people feel very hurt this year, which has taught me a lot about forgiveness. But this can all be quite depressing when I think about what this all amounts to since I as well as the rest of humanity will eventually die. What does it matter that I gave the guy on the corner some change, or that I helped rebuild a house for someone I’ll never meet? So what if the people I manage at work has doubled in size? Does it really matter that I caused pain, but found a way to rebuild a friendship? Everything will pass and be forgotten…

The reason I’m not depressed is the same reason some of us are celebrating Christmas. Today marks an event that brought hope and purpose into the world. Without Jesus coming into the world, the end of the year and birthdays would be a reason to celebrate memory loss. But since Jesus freed me from the confines of the temporariness of the world, there is reason to be excellent in all I do, mend relationships, and go through struggles. Happy birthday!

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