6 Bible Verses for When Your Family's Christmas Dinner Gets Awkward
It will probably happen as you ladle the cranberry sauce on your second helping of turkey. Amid the clatter of fork to plate and giggling from the kids table, a certain remark will threaten to unravel the whole gathering. It may be a question or comment that goes something like:
- "Well, if we'd known you were going to major in religion..."
- "…and Caroline's having Christmas with her grandkids. I wonder what that feels like."
- "So, another tattoo…"
- "You know, we have Diet Coke in the refrigerator."
- "That Thompson boy you dated in high school…the doctor? Maybe he'll hire you!"
While you can take comfort that a similar scene is playing out at dinner tables across the country, it's still enough to give you indigestion. Lucky for you, I'm here to prevent tummy aches and pains with 6 Bible Verses for When Your Family's Holiday Dinner Gets Awkward.
1. And as they continued to ask him, he stood up and said to them, "Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her." – John 8:7
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We've all suffered from a bout of foot-in-mouth disease, saying the wrong thing at the wrong time. Before you fume at your loved one, remember you've done it to someone else one or two times. Or 10 to 20 times if you're active on social media.
2. "Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you." – Exodus 20:12
Whether or not you're close to them now, the people who changed your soiled diapers, feigned astonishment at your crayon scribblings and kept you alive for the years before you could pour cereal into a bowl for yourself know you really well. And the ones who you know the best can hurt you the most.
Still, this commandment insists you honor your parental units, with a promise of long life in exchange.
3. While he was still speaking to the people, behold, his mother and his brothers stood outside, asking to speak to him. But he replied to the man who told him, "Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?" And stretching out his hand toward his disciples, he said, "Here are my mother and my brothers! For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother." – Matthew 12:46–50
Though you should afford your parents – and, I'll presume, the rest of your family – honor and respect, remember that they neither own you nor define you.
(This is assuming you're part of our mid-20s and older target demographic; toddlers, consider yourself owned.)
4. The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs―heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him. – Romans 8:16–17
You are a treasured member of the family of God, your eternal family bound not just by ancestral blood, but the blood of Jesus. Adopted, you were chosen before you chose Him. That is your identity.
5. Listen to advice and accept instruction, that you may gain wisdom in the future. Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand. – Proverbs 19:20–21
Lest you risk overreacting, listen, and think. There may be truth and unlikely sound counsel in those sharp words. Don't let your frustration shut your ears to it.
6. "Whoever desires to love life and see good days, let him keep his tongue from evil and his lips from speaking deceit; let him turn away from evil and do good; let him seek peace and pursue it." – 1 Peter 3:10–12
Your tongue, restless and fiery, may want vengeance in the name of defense, but that's one of the slipperiest slopes around. Instead, seek peace – pursue it, even. Doing so has the power to turn a potentially awkward and bitter chapter in your family's story into a good day.
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