Acts 20:35 KJV

… remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, It is more blessed to give than to receive.

Christmas is about the greatest gift that has ever been given to mankind, Jesus Christ! Without Christ, there would be no Christmas. Thank God that he loved us enough to give His only Son, Jesus, to be born of a virgin, live on this earth, die on the cross, and be raised from the dead on the third day, all for our sins! I am a child of God today because of the greatest gift, Jesus!

In the spirit of giving, I would like to touch on a topic that very much goes unnoticed. This topic is selfishness. You see this magnified this time of year. The primary question you hear is, “What do you want for Christmas?” I believe this question alone poses a risk to losing the true meaning of Christmas. Christmas is a time of celebrating the greatest gift ever given and sharing that gift with others. 

You may ask, ‘Do you not buy your children gifts for Christmas?” Yes, we do buy our children gifts for Christmas, but we also teach them that everything is not about them. We teach them that if you lose the importance of the birth of our Savior during all that is going on this time of year, you’ve lost what really matters. We also teach them that it is not just about what they are getting. Christmas is a time of giving, much more than getting. As the Lord Jesus has given us true life, we are to be vessels that he uses to share that life with others. We, like Jesus, are to be givers in every sense of the word.

The first and greatest commandment is to love God, but the second is to love our neighbors as ourself (Matt 22:36-40). Teach them about Jesus, but also bring to their attention that other children have needs and wants as well. Allow them to be vessels that God uses to be a blessing to others that may be hurting and doing without. This is the spirit of love, which is the spirit of Christ! 

What are you GIVING this Christmas? It is more blessed to give than to receive!