Warning: This devotion may step on your toes...
Christmas...yay! But for many, the christmas reality is crazy cookie swaps, unfinished shopping lists and whiny children. Here's the thing though: The whole reason we celebrate Christmas in the first place is because Jesus was born on Christmas Day to free us from the sin nature in us that perpetuates the christmas frazzle. His birth, a reason for pure joy in the heart of every believer, has ironically turned into a time of frantic christmas shopping, cranky mall patrons, hectic (and often hurtful) christmas gatherings and ungrateful present-openers. It's not right... But we believers can facilitate change. Here are a few ideas that may or may not step on your toes a bit:
- Don't perpetuate the scenario of entitlement. For goodness sake, our children don't understand how "Grandpa Tate walked uphill both ways to school...in knee-deep snow drifts year 'round!" They only know that when they put an iTouch or a pair of Uggs on their christmas list, they get it. They don't know how things were when we were growing up. They only know how things are now. So if we give them everything they want when ever they ask, that's all they know. In other words, their entitlement is our doing. Ouch!
- Don't let ungratefulness go unchecked. Redirect the hearts of your children (young and old) every single time they are ungrateful or complain about not getting "more" (more toys, free college, greater freedom, better gifts). They are stuck in a society mistakenly dedicated to all things self: Snap-chat, Instagram, selfie-sticks, iPhones, Go-pros, video games and Pinterest. They need our help to refocus, reorient and renew their hearts.
- Don't succumb to the world's way of doing Christmas. Shop less, love more. Run around less, serve more. Watch fewer screens, read more scripture. Be less worried about time-honored traditions like Santa's lap, xmas cards, eggnog, etc. and be more concerned about your tired neighbor, your lonely aunt, your stressed-out spouse and your bitter mother (she needs your concentrated prayer). But beware. If you suggest to your family that everyone should forfeit one christmas present so that you can all give money to a needy family, you'll catch flack. Because, the ugly reality is that they, like you and me, don't want to do what they don't want to do...and serving christmas dinner on christmas day at a homeless shelter as your "gift" to the community might seem like a noble idea but, when push comes to shove, they'll browbeat you to death to NOT have to do it.
Sorry. I know the above truths are hard to hear but, if you're honest, they ARE true (they are true for me unfortunately). The way to reverse the above-described cycle is to return to the Lord (see scripture below). Here's a few ideas:
- Little children need to learn that their true joy comes not from Santa but from Jesus.
- Adolescent children need daily advent readings and reminders of their need for a Savior when they sin (they each must come to a personal relationship with him. Remember, your relationship doesn't cover them).
- Teenagers need to work in order to buy gifts for their siblings and they need to be required to serve the community in some way as a demonstration of how Jesus "worked" for them on the cross (the modern-day teenager has no idea what real work looks like...)
- Adults need to step back and reassess spending habits when there's no money to pay their tithe.
- Families need to serve together, bitternesses need to be forgiven, presents need to be more thoughtful and joy needs to be restored. And this all starts with the parents (and especially with all the mothers reading this).
“Return to me" says the Lord. "I will heal you of your faithlessness; my love will know no bounds. Let those who are wise understand these things. Let those with discernment listen carefully. The paths of the Lord are true and right, and righteous people live by walking in them" (Hosea 14:2, 4, 9 part).