Christmas is coming

Christmas is coming. Christmas is coming. Christmas is coming.

If I repeat that long enough, and often enough, maybe…just maybe…I’ll be ready for it. It’s not that I’m not looking forward to the holiday. It’s not that I don’t enjoy it.

I do.

In fact Christmas is my favorite holiday. No matter how much or how little I celebrate there is something about the lights and the sights at Christmas that no other holiday has.

But with Christmas coming my mind turns to the greed it instills in people. The greed that manifests in everyone.

Every time someone asks ‘what do you want for Christmas’ they’re asking ‘how can I feed your covetousness.’ I’m as guilty of that as the next person. I ask my children that very question every year. And then I try and buy the very things that will feed the greedy covetous monster in my children.

And I do it because I want them to be happy. I want them to enjoy the holiday. I want them to receive gifts they will love. I want to see the smiles on their faces, the light in their eyes. And I don’t want to see disappointment.

But it always shows up.

Invariably, every year, the disappointment is there. Someone didn’t get something they wanted. Someone else got something that this one wishes they had got. This toy broke as soon as it came out of the box. This game isn’t as fun as they thought it would be.

There will be something to cause disappointment no matter how much or how little we buy them.

Scripture tells us that we are to deny ourselves and live for Christ.

Have we ever asked ourselves what…exactly…Christ would give someone for Christmas if He was on earth?

Christians are to deny themselves and it would seem that we do that very thing as we use our money or our time to acquire the things our loved ones desire for Christmas…but are we really denying ourselves? Or are we catering to the place inside of us that wants to see our loved ones happy?

And even if we are denying ourselves what are we doing to the hearts of those we love the most?

I remember many a Christmas when presents overflowed our living room. When the kids received everything they wanted and then some.

And still there was someone that wasn’t happy over something.

As the greed of their own desires was fed to the point of bursting there was always something that wasn’t bought. Something that wasn’t good enough.

Handing them money isn’t any better because all we’re doing is feeding the covetousness with dollars instead of things.

I’m not saying we shouldn’t give our loved ones gifts. That is a decision every Christian must make for themselves, for their families.

But maybe we should weigh our own beliefs against the covetousness we’re buying into every time Christmas is coming. Should we spend hundreds on our children when a smaller amount…less presents…could be pared with something that feeds their hearts instead? What if we decreased what we gave them in things…or money…and increased what we gave them in time?

Could we turn off the televisions, set aside the phones and other gadgets, and spend the day walking in the woods, playing games, and focusing all of our attention on each other?

Could we feed their hearts and our souls by denying ourselves…including the need to deny ourselves the joy of making our loved ones happy with all the things or money that they want…and instead feed them with the things that don’t promote the very covetousness we know is sin?

Could we invest more of ourselves and less of our finances?