‘Tis the Season
What comes to mind when you hear “‘Tis the Season”?
Black Friday… Small Business Saturday… Cyber Monday…
Deals… Presents… Gifts… Stuff…
“Nearly half of Americans are still paying off 2023 holiday debt, survey says” (Fields, 2024)
“Three quarters of Americans agree people have forgotten the real meaning of Christmas, with about two-fifths (42%) saying they strongly agree.” (Morgan, 2024)
When I ponder this question, the first thing that comes to mind is that Christmas Time is about Jesus and celebrating His birth. God gave us the ultimate gift by sending us Jesus - God born in flesh sent to give us everlasting life. We are taught by Jesus to give… "In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: 'It is more blessed to give than to receive'" Acts 20:35
With all of that being said, I think we miss the mark when we are so consumed by gift giving that we forget the true meaning of Christmas and go into mounds of debt in order to give. I myself have fallen to this mistake. I recall a time when I didn’t pay rent in order to give presents to my family and friends. I didn’t take care of my 4 walls - the shelter for my kids - in order to give them toys and others various presents. How foolish was I, and how thankful I am that God, even in my own undoing, provided for my girls and me.
I admit all of this to you to say that our hearts might be in the right place, but we also know that God instructs us about debt. The only RIGHT kind of debt is… “the continuing debt to love one another…” Romans 13:8.
This Christmas, let us remember that it is not about the quantity of items that we give or receive, but about the quantity of LOVE that we are showing to those in our homes and our communities.
References
Fields, S. (2024, November 29). Nearly half of Americans still paying 2023 holiday debt, survey says. Marketplace. https://www.marketplace.org/2024/11/29/nearly-half-of-americans-are-still-paying-off-2023-holiday-debt-survey-says/
Morgan, M. (2024, December 5). Survey says 3/4 of Americans think we’ve lost the true meaning of Christmas. Survey Says 3/4 of Americans Think We’ve Lost the True Meaning of Christmas. https://magic983.com/2022/12/19/survey-says-3-4-of-americans-think-weve-lost-the-true-meaning-of-christmas/
