So I was listening to my Christmas playlist the other day driving home from work, and one of my regular songs came on. A rendition of What Child is This by former Judas Priest vocalist Rob Halford. For years I’ve heard random Christmas songs on the radio and sang them in Church, but never really listened to their lyrics. I’ve found my feelings towards certain songs changing, becoming a fan of Let it Snow rather than Baby it’s cold outside simply because the lyrics aren’t in any way creepy.

What Child is This, however, brought the nature of Christ’s birth into a new light. Yes, everyone knows Jesus was born in a manger. It’s iconic imagery. Yet hearing the lyrics, that the Son of the Lord would be born in the same place where ox and ass would be feeding, suddenly brought the significance of such a birth to the front and center of my mind.

For any unfamiliar readers, despite my foul language and sometimes crude verbal imagery, I am a Christian and I take my faith seriously. I try to understand the Bible and its context, such as who wrote certain books, what was going on in that time period, their potential motivations, and taking note of consistencies between books and any inconsistencies. I believe my God to be rational, intelligent and to have purpose behind every thing he does.

With that said, I do not doubt that Jesus being born in a manger was by chance. It must have been intentional, as Christ’s entire life (as outlined within the New Testament) had broken typical expectations. Men of the world had ideas of what a King was, what a savior was, that were often decorated in ideas like gold, wealth, power and potentially conquering one’s foes. This is what a lot of people expected from Christ’s birth. It’s why Herod sent the Three Wise Men to go find this Messiah and kill him. He was afraid of a Jewish King leading an uprising and taking his throne. As Christ grew up, this is what many of his followers had expected. They imagined Jesus would lead them against their enemies, delivering them the World. It was also what the Pharisees and Sadducees feared, and that they’d be on the losing side and their peaceful life style would be over.

Yet repeatedly Jesus had to tell those around him that his purpose was different, and in truth his birth should have been the first indication. The son of the most powerful being in the universe was not born in a palace, a house or even an inn. He was born where the animals were kept, like an animal himself. Everyone gets so wrapped up in the miracle of a virgin birth that they forget about the humble nature of where he was born. From the very get-go, God was communicating to the world that the things we think are valuable, the things we think matter and are indicative of status and importance, these things are meaningless. Even someone as great as the son of God can be born alongside the animals.

While Christmas is meant to celebrate the birth of our savior, it should be important to keep more than our salvation in mind. We should be thankful for a merciful God that has granted us eternal life, but we should remember that our values should be the same as his own. That a large and wealthy estate, fancy cars, expensive designer clothing and piles of material goods are not happiness. These things aren’t even contentment. They are man-made ideas of what success is, what will make life fulfilling. Only these things are never actually fulfilling. They can help create fulfilling experiences with others, such as hours of playing, say, video games with a brother, the girl you are affectionate for reaching out and holding your hand during a movie, or even a fun time wandering the mall with a friend, complaining about how all these youngsters need to learn how to pull their pants up.

But these experiences are nothing without people, and that is what is always at the center of Christ’s philosophy. People matter, and you should love every one you come across as if they are a brother, father, mother or sister. Even the assholes and bitches.

So to my fellow Christian brethren, keep in mind the significance of Christ’s birth, the reminder of what our lifestyle should be, in addition to our salvation. To those of you that aren’t Christians, please keep in mind that many of those that wear the title of a believer may not act the part, but their actions do not represent our faith or the holiday.

Love those around you as if they were family, even if they cut you off and flip you the finger on the way home from the mall.