I love Christmas. I love everything about it except one thing, the guilt. Every year some prominent Christian leader or another starts the shaming. Shaming people for the giving and receiving of gifts, I have to tell you, I think it’s counterproductive and it misses the point. Has Christmas been commercialized? Of course. Over commercialized? Yes, a case can be made for that too, but I am getting really tired of seeing people throw shade at others for giving and receiving gifts. They always act like it’s an either or, you can either give and receive gifts or you can care for the less fortunate. What if we did both?
See the thing is, the gifts are significant and just because some may get their priorities out of whack, doesn’t mean the gifts are the problem. What is important is that we keep the gifts in proper perspective. The gifts of Christmas are emblematic of God’s greatest gift, the gift that met humanity’s greatest need. Salvation through Jesus Christ our Lord. We give gifts because we have been given God’d greatest gift, Yes we should remember the poor, yes we should go out of our way in this season of giving to help others, but we should be doing that the other 364 days as well. On this one day, we should give gifts as a commemoration of the greatest gift. We should give well thought out gifts that express our love for others just our God gave us the ultimate gift.
So this is Christmas and I beg you, keep your priorities in order and be sure to do good, but it’s also okay to receive gifts of love and it is even more blessed to give. No need for guilt. Guilt has been washed away for all who believe, that’s kind of the point…
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