#LIGHTtheWORLD In 25 Ways. Over 25 Days.

Today I learned about an awesome challenge for all of us to “light the world” in 25 ways over 25 days as we lead up to Christmas. It’s a challenge meant to help us focus on incorporating more Christ-like attitudes and behaviors in honor of this Christmas season and over 800,000 people have already joined the challenge and that number is growing daily! How awesome is that! And what a great way to make sure we keep ourselves focused on the things that are most important during this holiday season rather than having our minds get caught up in all the meaningless hubbub that can go on. Plus I love a good challenge, don’t you!

Since its December 5th we will just have to start today and make it the 20 day challenge, but that’s okay because Christ cares the more about what we do from today forward than what we didn’t do yesterday.  So starting today works GREAT!

Here is how you do it – each day states a different thing we honor Jesus Christ for that day and then it lists a few ideas for how we can do that.  Then each day we take a photo or write about our experience and share it on social media using the hashtag #lighttheworld .  Here is the schedule starting from Dec 5th  and going to Dec 25th:

Dec 5th:  Honor how Jesus healed the sick.  Ideas:  sign up to be an organ donor, donate blood, pray for someone who is ill.

Dec 6th:  Honor how Jesus read scriptures.  Ideas: read your scriptures for 15 minutes today, Text a positive thought from the scriptures to help lift the spirit of a friend.

Dec 7th:  Honor how Jesus fed the hungry.  Ideas:  donate food to the food bank, invite a family in need to dinner.

Dec 8th:  Honor how Jesus prayed for others. Ideas: pray for a friend going through a hard time, pray for guidance on how you can be the answer to someone else’s prayer, pray together with your family

Dec 9th:  Honor how Jesus visited the lonely.  Ideas:  visit a nursing home (studies show 60% never get visitors), invite a widow or widower to dinner, invite someone alone to join you for Christmas

Dec 10th:  Honor how Jesus helped people walk.  Ideas: donate old crutches or a wheelchair or walker to be refurbished, plan a fun activity for a handicapped friend that’s catered to their capabilities, offer to help an elderly person run errands.

Dec 11th:  Honor how Jesus ministered to children.  Ideas:  buy your child a picture of Christ to keep in their bedroom and teach your child how Jesus loves them, make plans to spend one on one time with each of your children, offer to babysit someone else’s child

Dec 12th:  Honor how Jesus taught others. Ideas: share a favorite inspirational story on social media, pass down something you learned from your grandparents or parents, learn a new skill that can benefit others

Dec 13th:  Honor how Jesus showed humility. Ideas: share an experience with a loved one about a time you relied on God’s help, ask your parent for advice on how to deal with a current challenge in your life, think of a time you were wrong about someone and share that experience with a loved one.

Dec 14th:  Honor how Jesus clothed the naked.  Ideas: collect and donate clothes to a local homeless shelter, take your own clothes you no longer need to a thrift store or a charity.

Dec 15th:  Honor how Jesus worshipped through song. Ideas:  Invite a friend to come to a Christmas Day worship service to hear the songs, share a favorite worship song on social media, listen to Christmas hymns for the day.

Dec 16th:  Honor how Jesus shared compassion.  Ideas: do a sub for santa for a family that needs some holiday help and cheer, write only encouraging comments on social media today, look for opportunities to show compassion today.

Dec 17th:  Honor how Jesus cared for his mother. Ideas: call you mom today, make a list of things your mom has done for you and send it to her, identify a mother figure in your life and take her flowers.

Dec 18th:  Honor how Jesus honored the Sabbath day.  Ideas: turn off your phone for a few hours today, attend a religious service in your area, visit a family member.

Dec 19th:  Honor how Jesus calmed the storm.  Ideas:  learn ways to help people around the world through charitable giving, review emergency response plans for your area, give your family or loved one a 72 hour kit for emergencies.

Dec 20th:  Honor how Jesus saw potential in others. Ideas:  be a mentor or tutor to someone, take a child to work and let them do your job with you, cheer someone on by attending their event to show support.

Dec 21st:  Honor how Jesus forgave.  Ideas:  call a family member you haven’t talked to lately, make a list of grudges and decide to let them go, be kind instead of right for the entire day.

Dec 22nd:  Honor how Jesus showed gratitude.  Ideas: give a small gift to the mailman to thank him for his service, offer a prayer of gratitude without requesting anything for yourself, write a thank you letter to someone who positively impacted your life.

Dec 23rd:  Honor that Jesus was a peacemaker. Ideas:  if you owe anyone an apology go and give it, make a donation to help refugees from war-torn regions, say nice things behind people’s backs today.

Dec 24th:  Honor how Jesus cared for his loved ones.  Ideas:  plan a special Christmas Eve program with your family and friends, leave an anonymous gift for a family member, take time to enter all of your friends birthdays into your mobile device.

Dec 25th:  Jesus Disciples followed him and so can we.   Ideas:  Turn some of the ideas from the past days into New Year’s resolutions, hang a picture of Christ in your home to inspire you year round, donate one day to selfless service for those you love.

For more ideas and an inspiring video to motivate you each day click this LINK to take you to the advent calendar and then click on each date to get to the video and the other ideas for that day.

It’s going to be a great month!

~Amy Rees Anderson

2 Comments

  • Thouheed says:

    Good thoughts…I am muslim but i will follow these list.#lighttheworld

  • Heather Vogeley says:

    Thank you for culling this from the website and typing it out. I was going to do it, but you have done it for me! I copied and pasted into a word doc & it is going on my wall at work. Grazie!

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