 One thing that can ruin your advent is pride in fact Jesus is coming into the world is an invitation for all of us To put pride to the side and make room for the Lord. Here's what I mean Remember back when you were in school when you were a little kid It's a little kid starting out in school. You were free to do what well You were free to fail. You're free to ask questions. You were free to not know the answer You were free to ask for help and but something happened along the way Where you said you did some someone told you or you just decided I'm no longer free to be a beginner I have to be an expert now. So I'm no longer free to fail. I'm no longer free to ask questions I'm no longer free to ask for help. I I have to be the expert Somewhere along the way in your life. That's probably what happened And so what what happens is then we stopped taking chances we stopped taking risks We stopped doing something where we might fail or doing something new what we might not know the answer And and might have to ask for help because we're convinced that We need to be the experts rather than perpetual beginners This is the first step in so many ways towards pride Pride that idea like no, I shouldn't need help In fact, I'll talk to so many people in the course of any given week or any given month who will say You know, I'm so tired of struggling with the same struggles I'm so tired of struggling with the same sins that I should be better by now or I should be past this by now And and I understand it. I understand in so many ways. It's like no I have the frustration of like I don't want to have to deal with this at the same time What's underneath what so many of these people are saying is this I should be at a place right now in my life Or I don't need God's help so much. I should be in a place right now in my life I don't need God's grace so much because they think I should be an expert by now And I should be so expert that don't need God's help anymore. Here's my invitation this advent To become a perpetual beginner to realize that I need to empty that pride I don't need to be an expert and I definitely don't need to pretend to be an expert I can be a perpetual beginner a perpetual beginner can ask for help Perpetual beginner can ask questions perpetual beginner doesn't know all the answers and a perpetual beginner has the freedom to fail There's anything that humble people know is that they have their freedom to fail They didn't come prideful people know or probably prideful people believe about themselves is that if they fail, they're disqualified But the Christian message this message of Christmas the message of Advent is that you don't have to be an expert You don't have to hold on to pride you can embrace humility make room for Christ and become a perpetual beginner For the from now until the end of your life You have freedom to fail freedom to ask questions and the freedom to ask God for help