The Christmas season has officially arrived. We have some suggestions on ways to faithfully celebrate the holiday in a world of materialism.
Its easy to get caught up in all the materialism that bombards us this time of year and miss out on the truth of Christmas. Lisa Martin of Crosswalk offers four ways to be more faithful this year.
First Choose love. Martin writes, “One of the greatest gifts that God wove into each of us is the freedom to choose. Rejecting or accepting, judging or understanding, hating or loving.” We have the ability to offer love instead of judgment, a hug instead of hurry, and sacrifice of attention instead of selfishness,
Next, Offer grace. Is there someone you can do that for this Christmas? If you don’t know how to take the first step, just ask God to reveal it to you. Ask him to create the moment in which you can faithfully give a gift created by Him.
Third, Create peace. Everyone finds peace in their own signature ways. So likely the best gift any of us can offer to create peace in our homes and families is to make sure we ask, “what brings you peace?” Or, “when you’re home from school or work this break, what could I do that would give you peace? Because that’s one of the greatest gifts Christ intended us to enjoy.”
And finally, Give hope. Do you know anyone who may be feeling alone? Desperate? Sad this season? Be sure some things drop off your to-do list to make time to listen to their hurt. Then in a humbly imperfect way, to offer hope.