The greatest gift you ever received for Christmas was given to you before birth. Paul is stressing to His young assistant the miracle of the Christmas story, coupled with the greatest gift we ever received. Why Is The Birth Of Jesus So Important? Titus 3:3-4  1. We Were Enslaved “At one time,” we were enslaved to depravity. Then Paul wrote But When and introduced a seismic shift. Something crucial happened through a dramatic, historical event that challenges our imprisonment to sin: the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared.  This is the incarnation, the appearance of Christ among men. God’s kindness and love compelled Christ’s appearance at Bethlehem, exemplary life, and substitutionary death and resurrection. The devil loves to remind us of all the ways we fall short, but through the gift of this little baby born in Bethlehem, we are no longer slaves to our former life. What once used to run in our family is now running into the redeeming power of our God! Titus 3:5  2. He Gave Us A New Life  This verse phrase refers to the new spiritual birth that takes place in the lives of those who accept God’s forgiveness, submit their lives to Christ, and begin following his purposes for their lives. Such individuals are spiritually “born again” (Jn 3:3–7). This event is symbolized in Christian baptism.  “Renewal by the Holy Spirit” points to the life-transforming power of the Holy Spirit that resides within a person who accepts Christ by faith and enters a personal relationship with him. The Spirit constantly infuses the Christian with the life of God as he or she continues to surrender his or her life to the Lord (cf. Ro 12:2). The world around us tells us we are good people, and the world around us tells us that we deserve happiness, which could not be further from the truth. What we deserve is eternal separation from God, but God loved you so much that while we were dead in our sins, Jesus died for us. There is nothing you have ever or will ever do to receive salvation, but it is a free gift given to us. The problem is that many of us leave that free gift unopened and leave it for one day when I am done living my fun life like I received that gift. What if your one day is today? Titus 3:6-8  3. He Gave Us The Holy Spirit  If we can agree that Paul’s statements are true, we conclude that: Christians are called to a high standard of thinking, attitudes, and conduct. Every believer has a background of disobedience toward God and selfish drives alienating him from God and others. God has provided a way for people to reestablish a pure and honest relationship with him through Jesus Christ. Faith in Christ’s death and resurrection results in God pardoning our corrupted lives and spirits. Our future holds a glorious existence with God in eternity. But we cannot accomplish this under our own power… Poured out on us generously. Paul’s reference here to the Holy Spirit’s work points back to the outpouring of the Spirit on the day of Pentecost.  This is the greatest gift of Christmas, our salvation, but equally as awesome as the gift of the Holy Spirit. Now we can experience the fullness of God through his Holy Spirit. It is one thing to look at a fire on a TV screen but another to experience the heat. Don’t you want to experience the fire of the Holy Spirit in your life? The heart of God is that you would be set on fire by the power of his Holy Spirit, but he will not force you; you have to be willing. Are you willing to allow God full control of your life and be transformed by the power of the Holy Spirit? What are our transformational moments? Do you need a “BUT GOD” moment today?  Do you need Jesus to give you a new life?  Do you need the Holy Spirit to set you on fire, and then you spread that fire worldwide?