How to Not Be Selfish at Christmas…
I was listening to a radio show the other day, and the topic was about a presumably Christian mother who has decided that her children are too selfish in their desires to receive Christmas gifts. Apparently this mother has been boasting her solution on the internet, of how she has chosen to cancel giving her children any gifts this Christmas, and how instead the family will be celebrating through a number of charitable activities where they will give away what would have been spent on presents. The mother even plans to use Santa Clause to scold her children for their selfishness, and then later to praise them for giving up their presents for charity. As I shut off the radio I couldn’t help but feel sad about this poor deceived parent’s attitude.
Selfishness isn’t about wanting to get presents for Christmas. Selfishness is defined by the sinful nature of the heart. If this mother wants to see a perfect example of selfishness all she needs to do is look in the mirror. She has already selfishly lied to her children about Santa Claus for years and intends to continue that lie (see my post from 2010), and now she plans to selfishly take away what she should be giving her own children as their mother, and even more selfishly make them give what should be their own decision away to someone else, and she expects this to be a lesson for them about not being selfish? That isn’t selflessness that is self-righteousness.
Maybe as Christians we need to take a closer look at what Christmas is all about, because it isn’t about selfishness vs. charity like we so often try to turn it into. Christmas is about giving life to somebody who deserves death. Christmas is about giving freedom to somebody who should be locked up. Christmas is about giving a home to somebody who deserves to be left out on the street. Christmas is about unmerited favor, not just about giving gifts when we deserve them for being good little boys and girls, but also about giving gifts when we don’t deserve them because we are selfish rotten brats. Christmas is about God loving us so much that without even giving it a second thought, He invaded the very hell that we had willingly walked into by our own ugly wretched selfishness, where He not only pulled us out of that pit, but He also clothed us in robes of royalty and put us on display for all of Heaven to admire as His priceless treasures.
Christmas is not about the selfishness of man, it is about the selflessness of God giving us what we don’t deserve. If this mother’s children are selfish and greedy, where they see Christmas as about what they get out of it instead of what they give others, that is all the more reason for this mother to do to her children exactly what Jesus would do to them, which is exemplified by everything He did over His entire ministry. He gave, without hesitation, without expectation, without condemnation, and without question. How we teach our children to be kind, generous and selfless is by our example of being kind, generous and selfless to them. That is the lesson of Christmas.
Merry Christmas!
James :)
Selfishness isn’t about wanting to get presents for Christmas. Selfishness is defined by the sinful nature of the heart. If this mother wants to see a perfect example of selfishness all she needs to do is look in the mirror. She has already selfishly lied to her children about Santa Claus for years and intends to continue that lie (see my post from 2010), and now she plans to selfishly take away what she should be giving her own children as their mother, and even more selfishly make them give what should be their own decision away to someone else, and she expects this to be a lesson for them about not being selfish? That isn’t selflessness that is self-righteousness.
Maybe as Christians we need to take a closer look at what Christmas is all about, because it isn’t about selfishness vs. charity like we so often try to turn it into. Christmas is about giving life to somebody who deserves death. Christmas is about giving freedom to somebody who should be locked up. Christmas is about giving a home to somebody who deserves to be left out on the street. Christmas is about unmerited favor, not just about giving gifts when we deserve them for being good little boys and girls, but also about giving gifts when we don’t deserve them because we are selfish rotten brats. Christmas is about God loving us so much that without even giving it a second thought, He invaded the very hell that we had willingly walked into by our own ugly wretched selfishness, where He not only pulled us out of that pit, but He also clothed us in robes of royalty and put us on display for all of Heaven to admire as His priceless treasures.
Christmas is not about the selfishness of man, it is about the selflessness of God giving us what we don’t deserve. If this mother’s children are selfish and greedy, where they see Christmas as about what they get out of it instead of what they give others, that is all the more reason for this mother to do to her children exactly what Jesus would do to them, which is exemplified by everything He did over His entire ministry. He gave, without hesitation, without expectation, without condemnation, and without question. How we teach our children to be kind, generous and selfless is by our example of being kind, generous and selfless to them. That is the lesson of Christmas.
Merry Christmas!
James :)
posted by AskAboutGod | Monday, December 08, 2014
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