While the person you are irritated with may never change, understanding a few basic concepts will at least ease your frustration. Allow me to share a few simple guidelines when dealing with difficult people.

First, treat the difficult person the way you want to be treated. It’s a timeless principle, but timeless for a reason. It’s effective. You may never change the behavior patterns of the difficult people in your organization, but when you model courteous, professional behavior, hopefully somewhere down the line they will get a clue.

A difficult person, more times than not, is that way by choice. An advisor to President Lincoln suggested a certain candidate for Lincoln’s cabinet. But Lincoln refused, saying, “I don’t like the man’s face.” “But sir, he can’t be responsible for his face,” insisted the advisor. “Every man over forty is responsible for his face,” replied Lincoln, and the subject was dropped. Just as you are responsible for your face, so is that difficult person. It’s not your responsibility to change him, just treat him the way you want to be treated.

Second, take the high road. Lowering yourself to the level of that difficult person is never the answer. Don’t allow yourself to be drawn in to another’s bad behavior by behaving bad yourself. Keep your emotions and attitude in check. Don’t be like the man who was told by his physician, “Yes indeed, you do have rabies.” Upon hearing this, the patient immediately pulled out a pad and pencil and began to write. Thinking the man was making out his will, the doctor said, “Listen, this doesn’t mean you’re going to die. There is a cure for rabies.” “Oh, I know that,” the man said. “I’m just making a list of all the people I’m going to bite.”

John Maxwell said, “The disposition of a leader is important because it will influence the way the followers think and feel. Great leaders understand that the right attitude will set the right atmosphere, which enables the right responses from others.” When difficult people surround you, take the high road, perhaps others will follow you. But if not, then heed to advice of my next point.

Third, protect the morale and productivity of your organization. As a leader, it’s your duty to protect your team’s integrity and morale. Allowing a difficult person to continue on in his or her job, in the end, may cause more harm than good. As someone once said, “What you tolerate, you promote.”

Treating the difficult person the way you want to be treated, taking the high road, and protecting morale are key components of your leadership. When people in your office are walking on egg shells around a difficult person, it can be a messy situation. Do your team a favor- act with compassion, act with conviction, and act quickly.

We have to remember that we all are difficult at times and we all have sinned and fallen way short of God standards. That is what the cross is about! That is why it is so important to prepare yourself spiritually and keep your focus on God-not people or situations-so His fruit can work in you.

Prayer is the most important act for us in any manner. Also, remember, your obedience is what counts, not how others respond to you. We are even called to bless these unreasonable people, and we do that by remaining true to His Lordship in our maturity. You cannot be responsible for how others respond and treat you when you are acting in godly character (Romans 12:14-21). Do not let the situation or the bad people get you down, or cause you to compromise biblical precepts or your character! Never close the Bible or neglect prayer; your spiritual journey and your trust and growth in Him will be your anchor to weather the storms. Do not allow yourself to suffer in your spiritual pilgrimage because of someone else. You are still God’s special child (Colossians 3:1-4)! Do not let yourself fall to the world’s way, regardless of what the other person does. Give them over to God; He is the one who dispenses justice and revenge, not you (Hebrews 12:6)!

These are the times you need to especially control your tongue and attitude. Focus on the Lord, not the situation. Do not allow yourself to get into a pity party so it is all about you; it is not; it is all about Him. You may not be able to do anything to resolve the problem in a relationship, but that does not mean you are to give up—especially in marriage. Your purpose is to take the focus off yourself and onto Christ as Lord. That way, the bitterness and resentment you got from others will not become a virus that affects you! Repentance and reconciliation may still come. Remember His timing; I have seen miracles of reconciliation long after I had given up hope. God is still at work, even when we do not see Him. God may use your character to speak to them down the road; no relationship or attempt at reconciliation is ever wasted in His Kingdom!

This article was written by Francis A. Schaeffer Institute of Church Leadership Development www.churchleadership.org .

The Samurai were soldiers of feudal Japan who dedicated their lives entirely to their lords. In fact, the very title of samurai means “one who serves.” Legends of their skill, sacrifice, and service have been passed down for hundreds of years. As Christians, we are called to be both servants and soldiers of Christ.

Luke 2:11 For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. This was first announced to the shepherds, who were the lower class citizens of that day . . . Jesus was born for all mankind, rich and poor.

Have a birthday party for Jesus, complete with cupcakes and candles and singing happy birthday to Him.  Our family does this sometime during the season when we can give Jesus full attention apart from the gift giving to each other.  The present for Jesus is always the first to go under the tree, wrapped in gold or silver paper.  It is filled with papers from previous years where we have all drawn on one side pictures of several things we are thankful for through the last year.  On the other side we have written the things we want to give Jesus in the coming year such as more time with Him or showing more compassion for others, etc.  We open the gift at the birthday party and read what each wrote the previous year,  make the sheet for the present year,  and then wrap it back up.  We end the evening with singing Christmas carols by candle light.

Thank you for celebrating the birth of Jesus each day this month with us through this blog. We wish you a very Happy Christmas Day!

In an earlier era, the general store stocked about a thousand different products. But today, the typical Wal-Mart superstore stocks 130,000 items. Not long after the Halloween candy is eaten, the sounds of Jingle Bell Rock start to invade department stores and the “happy holidays” greetings begin to be heard. The rush is on! The traffic increases. People spend the night at Toys ‘R Us just to have a chance at buying a Nintendo Wii.

So how do we transform this to make it a reminder of the birth of Jesus Christ?

For a long time, we have incorporated an activity into our Christmas traditions, called ‘The Christmas Web’. Recently we visited the Antebellum Plantation at Stone Mountain and saw that this was done way back around the turn of the 19th century.

The idea is that the true message of Christmas has become lost in a ‘web of commercialism’. We tell our kids that it is their job to find the true meaning of Christmas. We put all of them in one bedroom with the door closed while we take 5 rolls of yarn (one for each child). We weave the rolls like a giant spider web all over the house into every room and out onto the patio. It is hard to even move when it is complete. At the end of the roll, we tie a small symbolic gift. The gift has been a small flashlight that symbolizes ‘turning the light on to dispel the darkness’ in our world, or a new cup that symbolizes ‘being the kind of vessel God can use’.

While the children follow their own web through the house, we talk about finding the true meaning of Christmas that is mysteriously hidden in all the hustle and bustle of the season. Mark 4:11 And Jesus said to them, “To you it has been given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God; but to those who are outside, all things come in parables.” In Col. 1:26-27, Paul writes, “the mystery which has been hidden from ages and from generations, but now has been revealed to His saints. To them God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles: which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. This is the real meaning of Christmas.

Dr. Seuss completed How the Grinch Stole Christmas! in 1957. The Grinch, a bitter, cave-dwelling creature with a heart “two sizes too small,” lives on snowy Mount Crumpit, a steep, 3,000 foot high mountaijn just north of Whoville, home of the merry and warm-hearted Whos. His only companion is Max, his faithful dog. From his perch high atop Mount Crumpit, the Grinch can hear the noisy Christmas festivities that take place in Whoville. Envious of the Whos’ happiness, he makes plans to descend on the town and steal their Christmas presents and decorations and thus “prevent Christmas from coming”. However, he learns in the end that despite his success in taking all the Christmas things from the Whos, Christmas comes just the same. He then realizes that Christmas is more than just gifts and presents. His heart grows three sizes larger, he returns all the presents and trimmings, and is warmly welcomed into the community of the Whos.

So how do we transform this to make it a reminder of the birth of Jesus Christ?

Christmas transcends gifts and trees and stockings and credit card purchases. A Christmas without presents or decorations is still Christmas, which is God’s awesome statement to the world that He loves us, and no one can take that away. Romans 8:38-39 For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

At the end of 1945, Frank Capra and Jimmy Stewart had both just returned from World War II — and both returned sobered, with a darker view of humanity. Searching for a project to re-establish himself in Hollywood, Capra formed his own production company and optioned a property entitled “The Greatest Gift”: a short story by Philip Van Doren Stern, originally written on a Christmas card. This went through multiple rewrites before it became It’s a Wonderful Life.

Just like George Bailey began his life, Capra began the project with the highest of hopes. He had every expectation that the film would be a popular success, and perhaps even sweep the Oscars. But disappointment began the day of its release as generally favorable reviews were not enough to encourage more than mediocre box office returns. And of its five Oscar nominations, it won none, losing the “Big Three” — best picture, actor and director — to William Wyler’s The Best Years of Our Lives, a film which seemed to capture the spirit of post-war America more closely with its realism than Capra had managed with his fantasy. Capra was crushed.

Yet over the years people continued writing to him about the movie, emphasizing how much it had touched them. Capra wrote in his biography, “I woke up one Christmas morning, and the whole world was watching It’s A Wonderful Life.” Just as George Bailey’s local community came to his rescue when they discovered he was in trouble, so did the community of America rally around Life, elevating Capra’s forgotten classic to its current status as part of our Christmas ritual.

Frustrated in aspirations to have more, to do more, and to be somebody, George Bailey is a mirror of Americans, as we all strive to better our lot. However, even living the most idealist American dream life can somehow leave us unsatisfied. Over half a century later, George Bailey has become a legendary character in 20th century American culture. Through our identification with him and his trials, we can see a reflection of our own wonderful, horrible lives — and maybe gain some insight into the true American values.

So how do we transform this to make it a reminder of the birth of Jesus Christ?

When you watch the movie, realize that only Jesus can make it a wonderful life. John 10:10 I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.

Also, just as the movie showed how George Bailey touched so many lives, you were placed here by a sovereign God to touch lives that only you can touch. Always keep in mind that others are observing and being affected by your life. Matthew 5:16 In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father.
Hebrews 13:2 Don’t forget to be kind to strangers, for some who have done this have entertained angels without realizing it!

The Red Ryder BB Gun is a BB gun made by Daisy Outdoor Products and introduced in 1938, named for the comic strip cowboy character Red Ryder. The BB gun is still in production despite the fact that the comic strip was cancelled in 1963. The Red Ryder BB Gun is a lever-action, spring piston air gun with a smoothbore barrel, adjustable iron sights, and a gravity feed magazine with a 650 BB capacity. The Red Ryder BB gun was featured in the popular 1980’s film A Christmas Story, where the main character is desperate to get one, but is constantly thwarted with the warning “You’ll shoot your eye out”. The movie’s fictional BB gun, described as the “Red Ryder carbine-action, two hundred shot Range Model air rifle BB gun with a compass in the stock and a thing which tells time,” does not correspond to any actual production model.

America’s first working toy oven, was turquoise and had a carrying handle and fake stove top. It was invented by designers at Kenner Products (now a division of Hasbro). In its first year, 1963, over 500,000 lucky kids talked their parents into spending $15.95. By its fifth birthday, the EASY-BAKE Oven was a household name. In 1965, Hasbro introduced the Kid Dinners for the oven which were mini TV-dinner-like trays partitioned into three sections to hold beef and macaroni, peas and carrots. In 1968, General Mills created very cool miniature boxed versions of its Betty Crocker products for the EASY-BAKE Oven. The oven is still in production almost 50 years later.

Now it is 2009 and the hot items are the XBOX 360, Wii, the ipod, and the iphone. No matter what the item, we all have something we desire.

So how do we transform this to make it a reminder of the birth of Jesus Christ?

When you make your wish lists, just remember that all these things will never bring you complete fulfillment. But there is One who is the Desire of all people, whether they know it or not, who will bring fulfillment. Haggai 2:7 (NKJV) ‘…and I will shake all nations, and they shall come to the Desire of All Nations, and I will fill this temple with glory,’ says the Lord of hosts. The Christ Child is the “Desire of All Nations”!

The merry tune of “Jingle Bells” is perhaps the most recognizable of all Christmas music. Often it is the first holiday song learned by children. Though by strict definition not a Christmas carol, it is one of the top twenty-five songs in the history of recorded music. Written by James Pierpoint sometime during the late 1840s or early 1850s, “Jingle Bells” was publicly performed for a Thanksgiving program at the Savannah, Georgia Unitarian Universalist Church in 1857 where Pierpoint was the organist. His merry little tune proved so popular that it was requested for the Christmas program at the church a month later. From there, its fame grew.
When the bells are rung, a message is sent out for all to hear…either a good message or a message of warning. The message can be of a town meeting or of a church service beginning. The message can be the bell of a ship that is in distress.

So how do we transform this to make it a reminder of the birth of Jesus Christ?

When you sing “Jingle Bells”, remember that you are that bell that broadcasts a message. It is a message of hope and good tidings. But it is a warning of disaster if the message of Jesus is rejected. 1 Peter 2:9 But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.