Bringing Christ into Christmas With Things You're Already Doing

How can you balance bringing Christ back into Christmas with your family, without losing all the Christmas spirit? Hopefully this will give you some ideas to incorporate Christ into traditions you already have!

Being a parent during the Christmas season is magical! But it can also be incredibly overwhelming.. 

Specifically, as Christian parents, we walk the line of trying to balance the magic of Christmas – Santa, elves, cookies, gifts – alongside the real focus of our celebration; the birth of a baby that would show us what God is like and pave a way for us to be with Him forever. 

At times, it can feel like we need to choose between the two, possibly even revamp all of our Christmas traditions (who among us hasn’t regretted our Elf on the Shelf?). But the truth is that many of the things we are already doing can be made a little more intentional by using them to point toward Jesus as we head into Christmas. We don’t need an entirely new game plan to focus our Christmas on Christ, just some reframing. 

Below are a few things you might already be doing during the month of December and a simple way to bring Christ into it as you work to lead your family towards the true reason for the holiday. 

1. Christmas Decorations - Many Christmas decorations originated with symbolism in Christianity. The evergreen wreaths and trees point to the eternal life Jesus makes possible, lights in the window signify Jesus as the light of the world, and gift giving reminds us of the gift God gave us on Christmas. As you put these items in your home, explain to your kids their origin and let it serve as a reminder throughout the month. 
2. Dinnertime and Bedtime - While schedules are more hectic than usual and your dinners are less regular and bedtimes later, you can still use them to tether the season to Christ. A simple devotional, working to memorize Isaiah 9:6, or reading through Luke chapter 2 over the course of a week can all be rhythms that take less than ten minutes but end your day with a reminder of Jesus. 
3. Baking - With so many delicious recipes to be made, it’s likely you’ll be baking at some point this December. A great way to tie this into your faith is by reviewing Jesus’s words in Matthew 22:39 and sharing the wealth! You can talk with your kids about how Jesus’s most important command is to, “Love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength,” but he quickly added a second important command, “Love your neighbor as yourself.” By reminding our friends, neighbors, and the vulnerable people in our communities that we care for them, we are living out Jesus’s vision for humanity. 
4. Gift giving - Gifts were originally exchanged on Christmas as a way to tangibly signify the best gift the world was ever given – Jesus! But, gift giving has gotten a bit out of control in some places. You can bring gift giving back into focus in your home in lots of ways. You might limit your family to three gifts each, symbolizing the three gifts Jesus gave. You could pray before opening gifts as a reminder of why we celebrate before the excitement starts. Or you might participate in something like Giving to Christ at Christmas to give a gift to Jesus. 

Don’t worry about trying to do everything at once! By taking just one of these steps, you’ll be bringing Christ toward the center of your Christmas celebration. 

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MecKidz