I. Introduction
A. Grinchy
1. This time of year, I can get a little “grinchy.”
2. I love the celebrations. I love the cool, crisp air.
3. But I have also come to recognize that there’s something else that comes with this time of year…dissatisfaction.
a. It can appear in the form of envy or jealousy.
b. It can appear in the form of bitterness or sorrow.
c. It can appear in the form of materialism.
4. There are a lot of things that can make us grinchy, but we don’t have to let them steal our joy.
B. How the Grinch Stole Christmas Synopsis
1. How the Grinch Stole Christmas is the story of a bitter, isolated heart that believed Christmas was something that could be stolen, boxed, or removed.
2. Yet through love, community, and grace, his heart changed—and he discovers a better version of Christmas and himself.
3. God doesn’t want the Grinch to steal your joy. He wants you to find your joy in the One who can transform your heart to discover a better version of yourself.
II. Getting rid of the Grinch in Us
A. Heart
1. Our joy is stolen when our hearts are too .
a. The Grinch begins with a shrunken heart—“two sizes too small.”
b. His bitterness isolates him.
c. His pain leads to anger, and his anger leads to destructive behavior.
2. Movie Moment: In the live-action version, we get the origin story of the Grinch. When we see how he was treated, it’s no wonder that he became the Grinch.
3. There is a reason for the hardness in people’s hearts. Most of the time, it is in response to how others have treated them.
4. Like the Grinch, people often:
a. Withdraw because of past wounds
b. Allow bitterness to shape their view of others
c. Believe joy is something external rather than internal
5. A hardened heart doesn’t just break relationships—it to God’s blessings. The Grinch didn’t understand Christmas because he couldn’t see past the walls around his heart.
6. Some have a hard spot on their heart that restricts blood flow—the blood of Christ.
7. When we don’t deal with the hurts and hangups, we end up hurting others.
8. Joy and Love
a. In our passage, John reminds us that we are to be people of (1 John 4:7-12)
b. Consider this: God is love, and we are made in the image of God; therefore, we are designed with a great capacity to love.
9. He doesn’t put walls around the phrase, “we also ought to love one another.” (v 11)
a. Have you ever noticed how Jesus finishes His teaching about loving our enemies?
b. Matthew 5:46, 48 For if you love those who love you what reward do you have…You therefore must be perfect (mature), as your heavenly Father is perfect.
c. What reward do we miss when we have hard hearts? One thing we miss is joy.
d. When we love only those who have the capacity or desire to love us in return, we never experience because our love is transactional rather than transformational.
10. How do we have a heart-growing moment?
B. Transformed Heart
1. If we want to keep the Grinch from stealing our joy, we must become more like Christ. We must seek to develop a like His.
2. Movie Moment: At the climax of the story, the Grinch hears the Whos singing and feels something happen inside him: “His heart grew three sizes that day.”
3. When I first became a Christian, it was primarily, I think, because I feared going to Hell. Since my early years as a Christian, I have discovered that fear is not the best motivation for a transformed heart or life.
a. When one’s motivation to follow is fear, obedience is transactional at best, manipulative at worst. Only obedience motivated by love is truly transformational.
b. John’s appeal to us is not from the standpoint of punishment, but from a position of .
c. The Grinch’s transformation doesn’t come from punishment, but from experiencing undeserved love—especially through Cindy Lou Who.
d. In a much greater sense, we have experienced an love from God through Christ.
e. Romans 5:8 (NASB)
4. What does transformational love look like?
a. Ephesians 4:31-32 asks of us some of the most difficult manifestations of love: putting away bitterness, wrath, anger, loud uproars about things we dislike (clamor), slander, and malice.
b. Our hearts are to be filled with kindness, tenderness, and forgiveness in place of the things we have put away.
5. When our hearts are softened, they can be transformed.
III. Conclusion
A. Grinchy
1. Many of us can identify a Grinch, but what if the Grinch is you?
2. Did you know that Theodor Geisel (Dr. Seuss) based the Grinch on himself? He wrote the story to rediscover the true meaning of the holiday spirit in an age of increasing consumerism. He wrote the story to change his own heart.
3. There are times when we know that circumstances have caused our hearts to shrink because we have allowed it. God can help it grow again.
4. God wrote the story of man’s redemption to communicate to the Grinchiest of us how much He loves us and what a difference that love can make.
B. Invitation