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Americans spend more money at Christmas than any other time of the year. And, yes, it seems like stores set up their Christmas displays and turn on their Christmas music earlier every year. Christmas-themed commercials start popping up a week before Thanksgiving, at the very latest, and the day-after-Thanksgiving sales are advertised at every store. Certainly, Christmas is the biggest, most widely-celebrated holiday of the year for Christians and non-Christians alike. In view of the fact that everyone does more, travels more, and mostly spends more at Christmastime, people always complain about the over-commercialization of Christmas.

But since when is buying gifts for your friends and family a bad thing? Granted, if it causes you to go into debt, then something needs to be changed; but aside from that, what’s wrong with buying presents? I guess the real complaint is that the commercialization of Christmas has tainted the real meaning of the holiday.

In reality, however, many of the traditions we partake of at Christmastime didn’t start with Jesus’s birth. Things like gift-giving, caroling, and elaborate meals had been taking place for years before Jesus’s birth in celebration of the Winter Solstice. As the Christian religion began to spread in the years after Jesus’ resurrection and ascension, the Winter Solstice celebration merged with the Christian celebration of Jesus’s birth. This was a secular celebration long before it was a Christian celebration.

So what is the true meaning of Christmas, after all? That question has a million different answers for a million different people. For me Christmas is about spending time with my friends and family, buying or making gifts for people, enjoying the weather, making Christmas cookies, listening to Christmas music, and seeing everything decked out for the holiday season. But most of all Christmas is about remembering God’s grace in sending His son for us.

There’s nothing wrong with buying gifts, and there’s nothing wrong with parties, Jingle Bells, or spending a day at a crowded mall. Yes, it's very important that we celebrate the birth of our Saviour at this time of year, but Christmas is a time to celebrate family and friends, as well. Hebrews 10:24-25 says, “And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.” This, I believe, captures the essence of Christmas.

Have fun, enjoy the season, encourage one another, and spend time with the people you love. If the commercialization of Christmas bothers you, ignore it. Even if most people don’t celebrate a baby in a manger, the holiday season is always filled with generosity, peace, and love. Instead of spending your time bemoaning the commercialization of Christmas, remember what the season is about, enjoy it, and see it as a time to point others to Christ. After all, there aren’t many other times when the whole world celebrates a holiday with “Christ” in its name.

 

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Christmas: Celebration Around the World All I Really Want For Christmas Merry Christmas With Love Hikaru no Go