A Christmas Tradition

  Christmas time brings so many emotions for many people including myself. There is so much joy and happiness in the air, beautiful lights and a time where so many people do many great things for others. But there is also sadness because of loss of loved ones, financial struggles, anxiety and stress. But some of the things that some may not see is greed, frustration with others, anger, and a major one is that Christ is being taken out of Christmas.

   Matthew 1:21-23 - And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name Jesus: for he shall save his people from their sins. Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.

    I love being able to watch my kids open their gifts from under the tree, I love spending time with my family, and I love to see the joy and happiness on everyone's faces. However, a lesson that we were taught last year was we get so caught up in the gifts, food, plans and travel; that we can forget what Christmas is really about.

  We have an amazing Christ that came to this earth to be like us so that He could feel our burdens, our sadness, our joy, and save us from our sins. His Birth is just as important as His Resurrection because without His Birth we wouldn't have His Resurrection and without His Resurrection we wouldn't have Freedom and Everlasting Life.

   A couple of years ago we started Christmas morning off by reading the Birth of Christ and talked about why we celebrate Him and His Birth. Then we prayed and opened gifts. Last year there were no gifts under our tree but we still took time to read, pray and then gave thanks for His love and mercy, the roof over our head, the food on the table, and for each other. It was the hardest year ever yet we still taught our children and ourselves that gifts are a blessing but you still have so many blessings without them. This year there are some gifts under the tree but my children are more excited to read about Jesus and pray and give thanks for what God has done for us and what He has already given us.

  So this year, start a family tradition, if you have gifts under the tree or if you don't. There still many great things we have to give thanks for and we should teach our children what Christmas is really about. Let’s not allow the world to take Christ out of Christmas.

  Just a thought: Ever wonder why people use X-Mas instead of Christmas?