Bringing Christmas into the New Year: How the Incarnation Can Shape 2026

As I lean into the new year, I find myself still meditating on the wonder we celebrate at Christmas: that exquisite marvel of deity taking on human flesh, of becoming incarnate. This wonder of wonders, that God would take the vulnerable flesh of not just a man, but a helpless baby, that he would know the limits of hunger and thirst, pain and sorrow, and experience ultimately even the brokenness of death, all to identify with us, to become our Immanuel, our “God with us.” This is a luminous mystery far more brilliant than Bethlehem’s Star which drew wisemen from the far edge of the known world. It is a wonder more dazzling than a sky filled with hosts of angels singing perfect harmonies of praise. And it is no doubt that this is more than a doctrine to contemplate, this is a model to imitate.

And what better way to begin the New Year than pondering how we are to imitate God in this great act of incarnation. It seems paradoxical. Only God can become incarnate. And yet, Paul calls us to imitate Christ in the attitude he displayed in the incarnation. He writes in Philippians 2:5, “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus.” He then goes on to summarize the incarnation (2:5-11), through what some biblical scholars think may have been the words to a very early Christian hymn: 

“Who, existing in the form of God,

did not consider equality with God

something to be grasped,

but emptied Himself,

taking the form of a servant,

being made in human likeness.

And being found in appearance as a man,

He humbled Himself

and became obedient to death—

even death on a cross.”

The mindset Paul wants us to have is an incarnational mindset. What does that look like? It may look like casting aside the things that are “rightfully ours.” Christ cast aside his “rights” and emptied himself fully. He humbled himself to a dependent body, to the limitations of human form, to even a state of dependence as an infant, of having to learn and grow and hurt just like the rest of us. What could living incarnationally look like for you in 2026?

Perhaps, it may begin at home. How can we cast aside what is “rightfully” ours? It might look like sacrificing some bit of time that we see as rightfully ours. “I work hard; Saturdays are mine.” Perhaps. But perhaps God would call you to set aside that which you could grasp and instead see yourself, not as master of the moment, but as servant to the people whom God has put in your life at this hour. Don’t mis-hear me. I’m not advocating a life without rest or time for oneself. I am challenging the notion that time itself is our own. It is not: it is a gift, and one to be given back gratefully to God, spent on whomever or however He sees fit.

Or maybe we consider “rightfully” ours this paycheck we bring home. “I worked hard for this money: I deserve to spend it on such and such,” we reason. Perhaps. But perhaps, God would have us cast aside our “rights” and instead be servant-like with our money, asking God how He wants to bless others through it.

Incarnation sometimes looks like casting aside our to-do list, to see another human being and their needs. I remember one season where my then three year-old kept following me around the kitchen as I cooked or cleaned, repeating, “Play with me, mommy.” Casting aside what I wanted to get done that day felt hard. Getting down on eye-level with him, roaring like a lion in a fort with him was incarnational. I looked more at his needs than my “rights’ of I-should-be-able-to-get-this-much-done in this hour.

Finally, incarnation sometimes looks like doing something with someone that is hard for them. It’s a way of coming alongside. Yes, you have other things you could be doing. Maybe you already know how to crochet or could run a 5k in your sleep or file taxes for a new business, but you do it alongside someone who finds that particular task a challenge. You don’t just bustle in and do it for them. You find a way to come alongside and support them, teach them, talk them through it so that they learn and what once seemed daunting becomes do-able. Incarnation doesn’t lord knowledge over someone. Incarnation walks alongside.

Perhaps these seem simple. Perhaps they are. But casting aside our rights, seeing the needs of another human individual, meeting them there at that level of need, and coming alongside, these are holy acts. Hush and awe kinds of acts. The silent and holy night awe comes with us into 2026 as the Spirit enables the mindset of incarnation to live in us. Christmas comes with us into the New Year, and permeates the darkness, as we take this mind of Christ with us into our own humble circumstances.