As the world marks the birth of Jesus Christ in 2025, a senior Nigerian Christian leader has issued a profound call to move beyond festive celebrations to the core, transformative virtues of the season. Bishop Stephen Adegbite, the Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Christian Pilgrims Commission (NCPC), in his annual Christmas message, challenged believers to embody the radical humility and inclusive love demonstrated by Christ.
Bishop Adegbite’s message, delivered in Abuja, reframes Christmas as a time for active spiritual reflection and societal engagement. He emphasized that the nativity story is fundamentally a lesson in humility. “Jesus Christ, despite his divinity, chose to be born in the lowly manger in Bethlehem,” Adegbite noted. “This act was intentional—to exalt the humble, to identify with the poor, and to demystify the pride and arrogance that often divide us. True Christian celebration, therefore, begins with embracing this counter-cultural virtue.”
This call for humility extends directly into practical action. The NCPC boss urged Christians to use the season as a catalyst for genuine fellowship, specifically reaching across religious lines. “Christmas is the perfect opportunity to extend the hand of love and fellowship to people of other faiths,” he stated. “The season is about grace, joy, love, and peace, and these are universal values that can build bridges in our pluralistic society.” This perspective highlights the potential of the holiday to foster national unity and inter-religious harmony in Nigeria.
Beyond personal virtue, Adegbite connected the spiritual significance of Christmas to the civic health of the nation. He called for dedicated prayers for the nation’s leadership, including President Bola Tinubu, Vice-President Kashim Shettima, and First Lady Sen. Oluremi Tinubu, seeking divine guidance for their governance. Expressing a resilient hope, he affirmed, “I am optimistic that Nigeria will overcome its present challenges and emerge as a force to be reckoned with. In this journey, prayer remains the sustaining grace of our nation.”
His message culminates in a holistic vision of Christmas: it is a personal spiritual recalibration, a social imperative for love and unity, and a national moment for prayerful reflection. By urging Christians to “shun acts that distance them from God,” Adegbite positions the holiday as a spiritual checkpoint, encouraging believers to align their actions with the teachings of the Christ whose birth they celebrate.
Bishop Adegbite concluded by congratulating Christians worldwide on the celebration of the 2025 Christmas and wishing all a peaceful and hitch-free celebration. His message, therefore, serves as both a pastoral exhortation and a public-facing framework for understanding Christmas not merely as a historical event, but as a living call to action that resonates in the heart, the community, and the nation.
Reported by Angela Atabo for the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN). Edited by Hadiza Mohammed-Aliyu.
