HIS ETERNAL GLORY
Remember that faint loneliness that crept in after all the wrapping paper was cleaned up and the Christmas sugar high's gone? Surely, Christmas is so much more than just us celebrating and exchanging gifts.
Matthew 2:11 says the wise men saw Jesus, they fell down, and worshipped Him. They brought gifts, but the gifts came right after the worship. The gifts aren't the point, the presence of Jesus is and as it should be. And I found out that they didn't just celebrate His birthday, they responded to who He truly was.
Just like the wise men, we should respond to Christ with worship! And not just on Christmas day, but especially during Christmas.
Let’s be real. There is a massive difference between celebrating Christmas and worshipping Jesus on Christmas. One misses the whole reason for the season, while the other glorifies the reason of the season.
But revealing Jesus Christ, the heart of Christmas, isn't just for ourselves for it is also for our loved ones watching our ways as we go through the Christmas season. It's no brainer that there's something about the memories we create on Christmas, that heavily influences our understanding of Jesus and His teachings, love, and peace which is what really, really matters.
My childhood Christmas memories were fun and exciting. But to be honest, it was because I was looking forward to the gifts in the Christmas socks from Santa Claus every Christmas morning. It was the colorful Christmas lights, stars, and ornaments that highlighted my Christmas. It was the festivities at the center and clearly, it wasn’t Jesus’ birth that I was thinking about as a kid. Growing up, I realized there must be something wrong with the way I remember my childhood's Christmas. I don't want Jesus to be an afterthought of Santa Claus.
I don’t want that for my future kids.
I don’t want their Christmas to be filled with a fantasy character in a red suit. I want them to be filled by the love of Jesus and by the reminders of the one and only reason behind the season, Jesus.
Christian Christmas decors definitely set the tone and vibe of the season but we can definitely be more creative about what we do (especially when we’re on a budget!).
I heard this so many times: "Christmas are for children". So, here's a dedicated section for our beloved little kids.
Oh, I know what’s on your mind right now! The mess. I know how super messy it can get when kids do arts and crafts. It’s a total headache and another chore to add up in the long list of to-do’s during Christmas Prep. But we have to let kids be kids.
Teach them to think, be creative, and make something come to fruition! This is just one way to teach our hopefully-not-tablet-kids exactly that. Feeling a little guilty? Here’s some Free Christmas Printable Activities for Kids Compilation you can easily grab!
And ta-da! If you wanna go extra, here’s a not-so-little but, oh so cute angel coin bank that me and my little sister made last Christmas for your inspiration!
Not gonna lie, this was prone to dust and damage but it’s soooo fun to make! It represents angels who were God’s messengers when they announced Jesus’ birth to the shepherds, ministered to Him in the wilderness, and will be with Jesus Christ when He returns. You might wanna tell your kids that ALL the angels will be with Jesus when He comes back here. Yes, ALL OF THE ANGELS. They must be fascinated. How great is our God!
Choose age-appropriate Bible animations. It’s best for planting seeds of faith and reinforcing what they learned from you and from the church. You might wanna check out our favorites from these YouTube channels that my sister enjoyed watching. Here are some of her ‘toddler-hood’ favorites.
David’s Story (She loved this one and even made her hair tie a slingshot!)
The Story of Esther (Can’t count how many times she watched this on TV)
You don’t have to be a perfect Christian because there’s no such thing! All you have to remember is that kids are great observers. They learn by copying. They notice when your Bible is open and actually being used, when you sing worship songs while doing chores, and especially when you quietly thank God for small things.
These tiny moments matter. They're literally closely watching how you live with Jesus during ordinary moments. When you’re stuck in traffic, when something breaks, when you're having a hard day, how do you respond? What would it teach them?
The point here is, kids can easily learn about Jesus by the way you handle things, whether you're intentionally teaching them or not. Subtly and slowly, they are forming their understanding of faith from watching how you walk with Christ.
When they see you turn to prayer instead of panic, they learn that God is trustworthy.
When they watch you extend grace to others, they understand what Jesus' love looks like in action.
Just be real and show them that following Jesus isn't about perfection and having all the right answers! It's simply about knowing who to turn to when you don't.
Difficult? Yes.
Worth it? Totally.
Why? Because the greatest gift you could ever give them is the privilege of learning, through watching you how to love Jesus and how to love like Jesus.
Is it bad to be happy from receiving gifts? Definitely not. So, where could we be getting it wrong? Let’s look at the Scripture and honestly assess ourselves.
God loves giving good gifts. James 1:17 reminds us that "every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights." The Father's heart is generous. He delights in blessing His children. So naturally, receiving gifts and feeling joy from them reflects something beautiful about how God designed us to experience His love.
But here's where I think we might be missing the whole point of Christmas. It’s when gifts become the main source of our joy instead of a reminder of the ultimate Gift.
And it’s also when the temporary happiness from unwrapping becomes more thrilling than the eternal joy of revealing God's love through Jesus. For me, when I'm focused on what Christmas gifts I might receive, more than on what I've already received in Jesus, that's when I notice that something has to change. When the gifts or even the act of sharing and receiving takes over my head and stresses me out, that's a signal that I'm in dire need of the Word.
Having a change of perspective isn't really about having fewer Christmas presents or feeling guilty about enjoying them.
It's about our acts of faith when receiving every gift.
It's when we give our praise and thanks in the name of Jesus' for every gift, knowing that every good and perfect gift comes from above.
It's in the humble heart that knows that we have all these blessings not because we deserve it and definitely not because we could ever earn it. It's because of Jesus, the one who literally lived and died for us mere sinners.
Creating a Christ-centered Christmas Day deserves our BEST effort because it's for Jesus Christ, our King!
And there's only one thing that we could all do that I'm pretty sure, could never go wrong. PRAY.
Let’s pray to the Father for us to be guided by the Spirit as we take every step, from the beginning until the end. Pray about your Christmas season. Pray about your schedule, your decisions, and all your ways. This is your gentle reminder that we can rely on Him for every single thing that we do, even on Jesus' birthday! Because for some reason, we're doing everything for the glory of God and yet, He's truly the one doing everything good for us.
And seriously, it's not really about turning Christmas into a 24-hour church service. I'm encouraging you to let Jesus be the star of your Christmas. When He gets the first moments and the highlight of our attention, when we start with gratitude for His birth instead of diving straight into gift mode, everything else would hit differently. That's how the chaos turns into pure celebration, and your joy becomes rooted from the reason of the season, Jesus Christ, Our King!
Praise be to God!
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