{"id":1968,"date":"2009-12-24T05:00:39","date_gmt":"2009-12-24T10:00:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/faithfilledmom.com\/?p=1968"},"modified":"2009-12-24T22:25:48","modified_gmt":"2009-12-25T03:25:48","slug":"the-meaning-of-christmas-december-23-daily-reflection","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/faithfilledmom.com\/the-meaning-of-christmas-december-23-daily-reflection\/","title":{"rendered":"The Meaning of Christmas, December 24 Daily Reflection"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"A

A Christmas Gift<\/p><\/div>\n

The Christmas gift above looks bigger than the tree, larger than life or anything around it.\u00a0 That’s what the gifts have become, larger than the meaning of Christmas.\u00a0 In our culture we spend more time thinking, making lists and shopping for that perfect gift than we do talking about the birth of Jesus Christ.\u00a0 Don’t get me wrong the shopping part is a fun challenge, a way to show others we love them with the thoughtfulness of the gift we purchase, that says I care so much for you this is what I have bought you.\u00a0 Exchanging gifts is loving, it is an act of kindness.\u00a0 That is how our culture celebrates this holiday.\u00a0 Families gather, share stories, food and kindness, kids are full of joy and play with each other and their new toys.\u00a0 People listen and sing Christmas carols and reminisce.\u00a0 God must be happy to see us with joy in our hearts, loving and giving to one another isn’t that what the essence of God is loving and being kind and giving?<\/p>\n

The problem comes when we fixate on just one part of Christmas.\u00a0 If all we can think about is that perfect gift, that perfect tree, those decorations, those perfect Christmas Cookies, the perfect thing to say in the Christmas cards, the perfect thing to wear to the parties then it has all been lost.\u00a0 The Christmas spirit is all of it together with joy and love in our hearts.\u00a0 Balance is so difficult to maintain in our lives.\u00a0 Balance at Christmas time is probably a foreign concept.\u00a0 So slow down and reflect for a bit.\u00a0 Why do we do what we do at Christmas time?\u00a0 Is it for everything to look like a magazine cover?\u00a0 Or is it to be with family, friends and loved ones?\u00a0 Is it so we look better than our syblings because our gift is more expensive than their gift?\u00a0 Or is it so our gift simply says I thought of you and I love you?\u00a0 It is for the kids to think that Christmas is only about what they get from Santa, for me, me, me?\u00a0 Or is it for our children to learn to give to others and not see Christmas as all things.<\/p>\n

This Christmas take some time to reflect on what you want it to mean to your family.\u00a0 Over the years I have tried to limit the amount of gifts given to my children so they don’t think that Christmas is only about gifts but about the love of God.\u00a0 That God loved us so much that he took the form of a human baby and came to live among us to spread his love and kindness to others.\u00a0 God taught us about giving on that first Christmas and so we should teach our children to not just receive things, but to give our love to others.<\/p>\n

\u00a0This Christmas consider going to a Church and celebrating the birth of Christ, show your children the nativity scenes and talk about them.<\/p>\n

\u00a0 This Christmas celebrate Christ<\/p>\n

for<\/p>\n

without<\/p>\n

His birth<\/p>\n

there would be<\/p>\n

NO <\/strong><\/p>\n

Christmas.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It’s almost Christmas..are you still shopping for that perfect gift?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":1967,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[413,370,46],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/faithfilledmom.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1968"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/faithfilledmom.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/faithfilledmom.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/faithfilledmom.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/faithfilledmom.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1968"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/faithfilledmom.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1968\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/faithfilledmom.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1967"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/faithfilledmom.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1968"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/faithfilledmom.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1968"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/faithfilledmom.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1968"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}