Answers
By BGEA Admin • December 26, 2022 • Topics: Holidays
Q:
I am trying to teach my children the real meaning of Christmas and about God’s gift to the world. It seems that things have become too commercialized and it’s important for children to understand that this holiday is not about receiving gifts as much as it is recognizing the gift that God offers and our call to worship Him. Is this wrong of me to make Christmas more than Santa Claus and presents under the tree?
A:
From the writings of the Rev. Billy Graham
There is a difference in presents and presence. The story is told of a little boy wishing for one thing at Christmastime—something from his Daddy who was serving in the military in Southeast Asia. Hearing a knock on the door, the little boy rushed to open it and there stood his father. He didn’t ask, “Daddy, what did you bring me?” He threw his arms around the father’s neck and said, “Oh Daddy, this is the best Christmas present I’ve ever had!” His father’s presence.
We don’t usually think of a person as a gift, but actually interpersonal relationships are the most valued and cherished gifts of all. The Bible teaches that God gave a Person as a gift to every one of us, and that Person is Jesus Christ.
Christmas is a time when people focus on folklore and gift giving, but Christmas is actually a glorious reality, not a myth, not a tradition, not a dream. It is a time of joy. What happened in Bethlehem that marvelous night became the link that bound a lost world to a loving God. From that manger came a Man who not only taught us a new way of life, but offered us eternal life in His presence. God loves us so much that He was willing to give His Son to a lost world, to redeem a people for His own.
(This column is based on the words and writings of the late Rev. Billy Graham.)
