FROM THE DAWGHOUSE…
Why Inspiration Matters More Than Applause
Every December, my wife and I watch the 1954 classic White Christmas. It’s sentimental, predictable, and, if I’m being honest, a little schmaltzy. Yet every year, the same scene gets me. Near the end of the film, Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye surprise their former commanding officer, Major General Tom Waverly, by filling a small Vermont inn with the men who once served under him. As he looks out and realizes what’s happening, the weight of it all hits him at once.
Truth be told, I think all of us want to know that we matter. That our lives have counted for something beyond ourselves.
Scripture affirms this longing. The psalmist writes, “What is mankind that you are mindful of them… You have made them a little lower than the angels and crowned them with glory and honor” (Psalm 8:4–5, NIV).
God Himself declares that our lives carry weight and purpose.
Yet we rarely speak this truth to one another, especially during the holidays. We trade polite phrases like “Merry Christmas,” “Thanks for all you do,” “Appreciate you.” None of these polite gestures are wrong. Gratitude matters. But often they stay at the surface. Head-talk, not heart-talk.
What we truly long for is not just acknowledgment, but some Christmas inspiration.
In the Bible, God doesn’t merely thank His people. He calls them. He speaks identity before achievement. When God calls Moses, Gideon, Jeremiah, or the disciples, He doesn’t begin with applause for past performance. He invites them into a story bigger than themselves.
Jesus does this repeatedly.
At Christmas, we of course see it first with Mary and Joseph, two ordinary people from an obscure town, entrusted with an extraordinary calling. A young woman told she would bear the Savior. A carpenter asked to protect and raise the Son of God. No resumes. No platform. Just faith and obedience. God’s pattern is clear. He delights in calling the ordinary into His extraordinary purposes.
Jesus continues this same invitation years later when He looks at fishermen mending nets and says, “Come, follow me… and I will send you out to fish for people” (Matthew 4:19). In other words, your life is about more than you think, and God wants you involved in what He’s doing.
In a culture obsessed with measuring worth by productivity, talent, or visibility, inspiration reminds us of something deeper: God has already assigned meaning to our lives. Paul writes, “For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do” (Ephesians 2:10).
Notice the order. We don’t earn purpose, we receive it. Then we live it out.
As one-year closes and another opens, my hope for the men of Forge is that we would be reminded not just that we are appreciated, but that you are called to rejoice and be inspired by the gift Jesus gives us this Christmas season. That God is still writing His story, and He intends to work through us right where we are.
May the coming year awaken us to a fresh faith, renewed courage, and a deeper confidence that our lives, anchored in Christ, truly makes a difference.
May each of you experience the most blessed of Christmas seasons.
Joe Bouch
