{"id":17713,"date":"2025-12-01T11:20:44","date_gmt":"2025-12-01T17:20:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.steveblaising.com\/content\/?p=17713"},"modified":"2026-02-03T10:25:12","modified_gmt":"2026-02-03T16:25:12","slug":"how-the-stable-people-at-the-first-christmas-stabilize-us-today","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.steveblaising.com\/content\/how-the-stable-people-at-the-first-christmas-stabilize-us-today\/","title":{"rendered":"How the stable people at the first Christmas stabilize us today"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Christmas reminds us who the stable people are in our lives and who are not.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The first Christmas defines stability, not with theories, but with people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Step into the scene. The world is tense, turbulent, and uncertain. Yet the characters surrounding Jesus\u2019 birth move forward with steady resolve.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"661\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.steveblaising.com\/content\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Joseph-Mary-arrive-in-Bethlehem-661x1024.jpg\" alt=\"Joseph Mary stable Christmas\" class=\"wp-image-17809\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blog.steveblaising.com\/content\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Joseph-Mary-arrive-in-Bethlehem-661x1024.jpg 661w, https:\/\/blog.steveblaising.com\/content\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Joseph-Mary-arrive-in-Bethlehem-194x300.jpg 194w, https:\/\/blog.steveblaising.com\/content\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Joseph-Mary-arrive-in-Bethlehem-768x1189.jpg 768w, https:\/\/blog.steveblaising.com\/content\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Joseph-Mary-arrive-in-Bethlehem.jpg 775w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 661px) 100vw, 661px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">James Tissot, The Journey of Joseph and Mary, ca. 1886\u20131894. Gouache on board. Brooklyn Museum<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>A young couple is traveling under pressure.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Shepherds are startled awake in the night.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Wise men are navigating a long and risky journey.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Every one of them shows surprising steadiness amid <a href=\"https:\/\/blog.steveblaising.com\/content\/free-falling-grief-in-the-holidays-embrace-the-warmth-that-heals\/\">chaos.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It&#8217;s not that different from our moment in history. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Never have so many been so wealthy, and never have so many felt so fragile and anxious.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But the first Christmas still speaks. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Its ordinary participants quietly offer us ingredients for a more stable life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading has-text-align-center\" id=\"h-three-traits-of-stable-people\"><mark style=\"background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)\" class=\"has-inline-color has-vivid-cyan-blue-color\">Three traits of stable people<\/mark><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>What did the visitors, shepherds, wise men, and the old couple at the temple have in common? <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>They loved God and each other. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>They trusted God and each other. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And they carried a quiet, steady hope that showed up in how they lived.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>What a tripod for a stable life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Faith<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Hope <\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Love<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Paul brought these three together in 1 Corinthians 13, the passage you hear at almost every wedding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>\u201cAnd now these three remain: faith, hope, and love.&nbsp; But the greatest of these is love.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Stable people cling to God\u2019s love, and then God fills them with purpose, identity, and strength.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading has-text-align-center\" id=\"h-stable-is-a-quality-not-a-feeling\"><mark style=\"background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)\" class=\"has-inline-color has-vivid-cyan-blue-color\">Stable is a quality, not a feeling<\/mark><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>When you look at Mary and Joseph, you see those three qualities showing up in real time: love, faith, and hope. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And they were not living in a calm or orderly world. Their world was politically chaotic, occupied by Rome, struggling with poverty, and ruled by a man so insecure that he killed babies to protect his throne. That is about as unstable as it gets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Right in the middle of all that, Mary had to trust Joseph. Joseph had to trust Mary. They both had to believe that God was somehow in this sudden disruption of their lives, guiding them through an upheaval they never asked for and could not fully understand. And they needed love to hold steady under all that uncertainty and pressure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But when I think about love, faith, and hope, I am not thinking about emotions. Faith is not a feeling. Love is not a spine-tingling moment. Hope is not nervous hand-wringing. These are not moods. They are actions. They are attitudes. They are choices we practice every day, no matter how we feel in the moment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In short, a stable life is shaped by love, faith, and hope, especially love. And from that foundation flows other essential qualities in stable people. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Growth<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Movement<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Adjustment<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>They stay open to change and keep becoming who God is shaping them to be.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading has-text-align-center\" id=\"h-stability-and-movement\"><mark style=\"background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)\" class=\"has-inline-color has-vivid-cyan-blue-color\">Stability and movement<\/mark><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>There is a difference between stable and stationary.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The first Christmas attendees were not stationary. They travelled. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"712\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.steveblaising.com\/content\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Majii-James-Tissot-1024x712.jpg\" alt=\"Christmas stable people\" class=\"wp-image-17807\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blog.steveblaising.com\/content\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Majii-James-Tissot-1024x712.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/blog.steveblaising.com\/content\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Majii-James-Tissot-300x209.jpg 300w, https:\/\/blog.steveblaising.com\/content\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Majii-James-Tissot-768x534.jpg 768w, https:\/\/blog.steveblaising.com\/content\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Majii-James-Tissot.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">James Tissot, The Magi Journeying, ca. 1894\u20131902. Brooklyn Museum.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Everyone was moving. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>They all came from somewhere, including Jesus himself. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Here is God coming in an entirely new mode, taking on human form. God himself is in motion, as he always is, moving into our world where we live.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>God embraces change, humbles himself, and arrives as a servant to the&#8230;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>sick<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>lonely<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>abused<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>suffering<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-left\">Not only did they come from somewhere, but they all went. No one stayed. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Mary, Joseph, and Jesus went to Egypt. <\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/blog.steveblaising.com\/content\/snatch-a-superior-gift-that-can-make-you-wealthy\/\">Wise men<\/a> went back home.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Shepherds returned to their fields. <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Everybody kept moving, moving outside of self-imposed restrictions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading has-text-align-center\" id=\"h-unstable-people\"><mark style=\"background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)\" class=\"has-inline-color has-vivid-cyan-blue-color\">Unstable people<\/mark><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Folks consumed primarily with themselves are unstable people.  They are lonely and despairing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But I&#8217;ve never met a depressed giver. At least, I don&#8217;t know any. I see a lot of unhappy getters. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Wealth, in the Bible, is attributed to giving, growing, and expanding people, people who are willing to take risks for God and willing to give so that others might have life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Jesus said to lose your life, and you&#8217;ll find it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Try to find your life for your sake, and you&#8217;ll lose it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading has-text-align-center\" id=\"h-a-new-path-ahead\"><mark style=\"background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)\" class=\"has-inline-color has-vivid-cyan-blue-color\">A new path ahead<\/mark><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>As at the first Christmas, God is working in the world through people who are willing to move and go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Stable people are loving, growing, and giving people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Wise men came and brought gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>What <a href=\"https:\/\/blog.steveblaising.com\/content\/holidays-can-be-maddening\/\">new steps<\/a> are you taking to grow in the year ahead?<\/p>\n<!-- AddThis Advanced Settings generic via filter on the_content --><!-- AddThis Share Buttons generic via filter on the_content -->","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Christmas reminds us who the stable people are in our lives and who are not. The first Christmas defines stability, not with theories, but with people. Step into the scene. The world is tense, turbulent, and uncertain. Yet the characters surrounding Jesus\u2019 birth move forward with steady resolve. Every one of them shows surprising steadiness [&hellip;]<!-- AddThis Advanced Settings generic via filter on get_the_excerpt --><!-- AddThis Share Buttons generic via filter on get_the_excerpt --><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"cos_headline_score":0,"cos_seo_score":0,"cos_headline_text":"How the stable people at the first Christmas stabilize us today","cos_headline_has_been_analyzed":false,"cos_last_analyzed_headline":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[3732],"tags":[45,3733],"class_list":["post-17713","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-stability","tag-christmas","tag-stability"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.1 (Yoast SEO v27.3) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>How the stable people at the first Christmas stabilize us today - Steve Blaising<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Strengthen your spirit with the three qualities of stability from the people who attended the first Christmas.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blog.steveblaising.com\/content\/how-the-stable-people-at-the-first-christmas-stabilize-us-today\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How the stable people at the first Christmas stabilize us today\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Strengthen your spirit with the three qualities of stability from the people who attended the first Christmas.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/blog.steveblaising.com\/content\/how-the-stable-people-at-the-first-christmas-stabilize-us-today\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Steve Blaising\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-12-01T17:20:44+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-02-03T16:25:12+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/blog.steveblaising.com\/content\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Joseph-Mary-arrive-in-Bethlehem.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"775\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Steve Blaising\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Steve Blaising\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.steveblaising.com\\\/content\\\/how-the-stable-people-at-the-first-christmas-stabilize-us-today\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.steveblaising.com\\\/content\\\/how-the-stable-people-at-the-first-christmas-stabilize-us-today\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Steve Blaising\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.steveblaising.com\\\/content\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/40a659701b6bed01005bdbf57f264c20\"},\"headline\":\"How the stable people at the first Christmas stabilize us today\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-12-01T17:20:44+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-02-03T16:25:12+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.steveblaising.com\\\/content\\\/how-the-stable-people-at-the-first-christmas-stabilize-us-today\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":759,\"commentCount\":2,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.steveblaising.com\\\/content\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/40a659701b6bed01005bdbf57f264c20\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.steveblaising.com\\\/content\\\/how-the-stable-people-at-the-first-christmas-stabilize-us-today\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.steveblaising.com\\\/content\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/12\\\/Joseph-Mary-arrive-in-Bethlehem-661x1024.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Christmas\",\"Stability\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Stability\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.steveblaising.com\\\/content\\\/how-the-stable-people-at-the-first-christmas-stabilize-us-today\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.steveblaising.com\\\/content\\\/how-the-stable-people-at-the-first-christmas-stabilize-us-today\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.steveblaising.com\\\/content\\\/how-the-stable-people-at-the-first-christmas-stabilize-us-today\\\/\",\"name\":\"How the stable people at the first Christmas stabilize us today - 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