Well, Merry Christmas. It's a beautiful day when we think about getting and giving gifts in light of receiving the greatest gift in the universe in the person of our Savior Jesus Christ. He really is the most precious gift that we have. And yet God has purpose to give us a lot of other gifts.

And the problem, of course, is that we can base the experience of our lives on the gifts that we

get or the gifts that we didn't get. So I'm not just talking about Christmas Day. I mean,

we can begin to think of our lives in terms of the roller coaster of life circumstances based on what we get or don't get. And if you're like me,

we are hardwired to root our own happiness in life's circumstances. Happiest when things are

going well, saddest when things are not. That's true of us. I think when we are four years old,

24 years old, 74 years old, and 14 years old. That's true of us. I think when we are four years old, 24 years old,

74 years old, and 14 years old. Here's an email from a listener named Tessa, a 14-year-old

listener to the podcast who wrote this. Quote, Dear Pastor John, hello, thank you so much for

this podcast and for the ministry of desiring God. All of it has been a huge blessing in my life.

Recently, I have been feeling more and more that my happiness depends on the circumstances

around me. Will you please offer me biblical guidance on how it can root my joy in Jesus instead?

Well, I feel so thankful for this from a 14-year-old. My, my, my. When I think back on the things that I

struggled with, when I was 14, I don't think I posed the question the way I should have.

So let me just encourage you that your very way of asking this question is a sign of

significant growing spiritual life and maturity for your age especially. So take heart. From where I sit,

it looks to me like God is at work in your life,

and that is always a wonderful miracle.

Before I give you some suggestions from the Bible for how you can shift your

circumstance-dependent happiness onto Jesus dependent happiness. Let me also say that

this battle that you feel right now, you will be fighting 60 years from now if you're still

alive and Jesus hasn't come back.

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