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Christmas is almost here. The world around us is buzzing with last-minute lists, crowded stores, and holiday pressure. But Christmas tells us something simple and freeing: our Savior has come. We need not worry. We are invited to be happy. And discovering the deep happiness Jesus brought into the world is what today’s message is about.

Two songs decades apart — Bobby McFerrin’s cheerful Don’t Worry, Be Happy and Pharrell Williams’ infectious Happy, both tap into our longing for joy. But as we stand this close to Christmas, we are reminded that Jesus offers a much deeper kind of happiness. The Beatitudes show us where real joy is found, not in circumstances, but in Him.

Christmas tells us that God has come; the Beatitudes tell us how that changes us.

There’s something timeless about a simple tune that makes us smile. When Bobby McFerrin sang, “Don’t worry, be happy,” we sang along, and even for a moment, our troubles loosened their grip. Years later, Pharrell invited the world to clap along “if you feel like happiness is the truth.” These songs remind us how deeply we all long to be happy. Yet as we approach the manger again this week, we remember that Jesus offers a joy that isn’t fleeting. Before He ever preached, healed, or taught, He entered our world as a child, and everything that followed flowed from that moment.

When Jesus later climbed that hillside and spoke the Beatitudes, He wasn’t changing the message of Christmas. He was explaining it. The Beatitudes are not rules to follow; they are the shape of a life transformed by God-with-us, a heart made ready to receive, and then reflect, the newborn King.

“Blessed are the poor in spirit.” At Christmas, we remember that Jesus was born into simplicity. The world says, “Be self-sufficient,” but the manger tells us otherwise. Peace begins the moment we admit that we depend on God.

“Blessed are those who mourn.” Christmas can stir both joy and sorrow. The Child born into a broken world understands our grief. Mourning is not a failure of faith; it is a doorway for God’s comfort to enter.

“Blessed are the meek.” In a season full of noise and hurry, meekness invites us to slow down. It is quiet strength, the strength we see in a God who comes not with force, but with love.

“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness.” Christmas awakens our hunger for goodness, justice, and meaning. The coming of Christ assures us that this longing is not misplaced, it will be satisfied.

“Blessed are the merciful.” Christmas is God’s mercy wrapped in swaddling clothes. Every time we forgive, show patience, or choose compassion, we echo heaven’s song.

“Blessed are the pure in heart.” A pure heart is not perfect; it is focused. When we stop chasing all the little gods of this world and fix our gaze on Jesus, we begin to see God everywhere, even in ordinary moments.

“Blessed are the peacemakers.” On Christmas night, the angels sang of peace. This week especially, we are called to carry that peace into strained relationships, busy homes, and tired hearts.

“Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake.” Even when discipleship is costly, Jesus promises that heaven’s joy already belongs to us. Christmas reminds us that God entered the world knowing the cost and loving us anyway.

At the end of His teaching, Jesus adds words that fit perfectly two days before Christmas: “Rejoice and be glad.” Not because everything is perfect, but because God is with us.

Please pause for a moment and clap along with this video, because the birth of the Christ Child is the truth! I envision everyone reading this message clapping and dancing right now. For unto us a child is born, and that is a reason to be HAPPY!

Maybe that’s why those simple songs still lift our spirits. Beneath the catchy rhythms lies a deeper truth: worry and joy cannot share the same heart. When we trust God enough to release our fear, joy has room to grow.

So, as we enter these final hours before Christmas, let’s carry Jesus’ words in our hearts. Let’s live the Beatitudes out loud, smile more, worry less, forgive quicker, and love deeper. The world doesn’t need more busyness; it needs people filled with the deep happiness that began in a manger and continues in our lives.

Don’t worry. Be happy.
Rejoice and be glad, your Savior has come!

Heavenly Father, thank you for sending Your Son on that first Christmas morning. He came to bring joy to the world. He taught us how to be happy when He gave us the Beatitudes. Help me to be transformed by them. Prepare my heart to receive Him. And help me to always keep this newborn King as the King of my life. Amen!

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Brian Pusateri

Brian is a Christian author and speaker. Brian, a lifelong Catholic, felt his life was forever changed when God spoke to his heart while attending an eight day silent Christian retreat in November of 2011. Soon after that retreat Brian founded 4th Day Letters and Broken Door Ministries. With the God inspired message of mercy and unconditional love that was placed on his heart during that retreat, Brian has been impacting others all over the country and around the world with his weekly letters, his talks, and his all day Christian retreats. In June of 2014, Brian’s life was again impacted in a very dramatic way when his eyesight suddenly became permanently impaired. The initial diagnosis was Multiple Scleroses (MS) but in December of 2019 the diagnosis was corrected to MOG antibody disease, a rare neurological disease. This health challenge has only served to draw Brian closer to God and bolster the importance of this timely yet ageless message.

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