“Give and it will be given to you…” Lk. 6:38
Do you remember this Christmas song…?
You better watch out, you better not cry,
You better not pout, I’m telling you why,
Santa Claus is comin’ to town…
He’s making a list, he’s checking it twice,
Gonna find out who’s naughty or nice.
Santa Claus is comin’ to town.
As a child, I found the tune delightful, but struggled at times with how to reconcile the lyrics with the message of Christmas and the spirit of giving. In some countries, the custom of putting shoes or stockings out on St. Nicholas Day (Dec. 6th) includes a warning that if you are not nice, St. Nicholas may leave you a lump of coal or a switch instead of something nice. Now that certainly makes the season bright, doesn’t it?
Santa and St. Nicholas may have conditions for giving good gifts to children, but the only condition God has for His gifts is that we receive them by faith and with grateful hearts. Better-watch-out-giving is not God’s way of giving to those who are His children…for which I am grateful! Though disobedience always has consequences, God’s love and grace is lavished upon us with no strings attached.
Even knowing this, we often find ourselves complicit in the propagation of greed among our children and grandchildren. We fill the spaces around our Christmas trees with stacks of useless gifts with which our grandchildren become quickly bored—all in the name of the spirit of giving. Unlike the gifts under the tree, God’s gifts are good gifts that never wear out and never need to be exchanged.
At this Christmas season, perhaps you struggle, as I do, with how to teach our grandchildren how lavish and wondrous God’s gifts are to us. In this spirit of Christmas I want to find ways to authentically express the spirit of Christ to my family that promotes generosity rather than greed. How do I avoid fostering a preoccupation with ‘getting’ at Christmas among my grandchildren so that they understand the truth that it is “more blessed to give than to receive (Acts 20:35)?” Wouldn’t it be life-changing to change the focus of Christmas as a time to shower gifts on each other to a time to bring gifts of love and gratitude to our Savior? It is HIS birthday, after all.
What is the focus of Christmas in your family—“here’s what I want for Christmas” or “What can I give to make much of Christ this Christmas?” And what is your Christmas song—“You’d better watch out…” or “Joy to the world, the Lord is come?”
SHARE YOUR IDEAS
I’d love to hear YOUR stories of how you fan the flame of a legacy of giving in your family. Send me your insights so our readers can benefit.
I love to read the O’Henry short story, The Gift of the Magi, at Christmas. It’s a good reminder of the way of wisdom when it comes to giving gifts. Here’s a link to an audio version you could sit listen to with your grandkids sometime…The Gift of the Magi.
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