One of my favorite stories at Christmas time is the story of Ebenezer Scrooge in A Christmas Carol. In particular, I like the 1984 version starring George C. Scott. It’s Nineteenth Century London, and Scrooge is a bitter, cranky old man who exploits his employees and the people he does business with, and even ignores his own family.

On Christmas Eve, Scrooge is visited by the doomed ghost of his old business partner, Jacob Marley, who was in his lifetime as mean and miserly as Scrooge had become. And he warns Scrooge to change his ways or face the consequences in the afterlife. Marley tells Scrooge he’ll be visited by three ghosts on Christmas Eve, and when the ghosts do come, he is shown the pain of his past and how that pain formed his present and the terrible end he’ll face in the future if he didn’t change.

In the end, Scrooge gets the message and changes his ways on Christmas Day. He saves himself and those he loves.

I love the story of Scrooge because it’s my story, and perhaps it’s yours. If you’re feeling a bit like Scrooge this Christmas, take a moment to reflect on your past, learn from it, and allow it to change your present, and then let that change form a new future that will be better as a result.

If we remember the reason for Christmas—the celebration of God’s Christmas gift to the world, his only Son—this Christmas season can be our time of reclamation.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Originally posted at The Strident Conservative

David Leach is the owner of The Strident Conservative, your source for opinion that’s politically-incorrect and always “right.” His articles can also be found on RedState.com.

His daily radio commentary is nationally syndicated with Salem Radio Network and can be heard on stations across America.