When I was a child my extended family all gathered at my grandfathers house to celebrate Christmas. Some of my best memories from my childhood come from my grandfathers house. It was a large estate with all kinds of fun activities. But I do not believe it was the large house and fun activities that made it memorable. Rather it was the relationships with my cousins that formed my wonderful memories.
Christmas morning was always filled with a plethora of presents. It took us hours to open all the gifts. Wrapping paper would be everywhere. We would then spend all day playing while all the women cooked an extravagant meal. We lacked for nothing when viewed from the outside. We were all living in abundance. Yet much of my Christmas morning was filled with me comparing my gifts to my cousins. I often wondered why my stack and my brothers stack was smaller than everyone else’s. Similarly my parents worked there asses off to try to match all my cousins because they did not want us to think Santa loved us less.
Recently I have heard several people make the statement that God must love them less for he has not blessed them in the same way as others. It is a reflection of the same thing I experienced as a child. Did Santa love me less because my stacks of presents which was way more than I needed but was smaller than my cousins? This is often what we do to God. Jesus died for every human. He desires for every human to feel his love and blessing.
Christmas should not be about competing and comparison. Christmas should be about giving to others the love and blessing that God gave to us through his son Jesus. My family took Jesus our of Christmas and the result was a fun party that was empty of true meaning and real love. Is Jesus the center of your Christmas?
Jules Artsy Boutique 