When
referring to the Christmas Spirit, the responses you will get are as unique as
the individual to whom you are speaking.
To some, the Christmas spirit is all about the spirit of giving. To others, the Christmas spirit has
everything to do with children. To yet
others, the Christmas spirit is all about gatherings of family and
friends. Although all of these are
important; to me the Christmas spirit is solely based on my faith – becoming
Christlike, not just during the holiday season, but all year long.
Gift-giving
is wonderful, and symbolic of the gifts presented to Jesus in the manger, but I
feel this world has become so focused on gift-giving, the message has been
completely diluted. The gift-giving
process has become so commercialized and lost its true meaning. Gifts no longer come from a spirit of giving,
but instead are, most often, given out of obligation, with no meaning or
compassion behind the gift itself.
Children are
a very special part of Christmas. Seeing
their faces light up when they open the gifts they’ve been requesting for
months is truly priceless. However, I
feel lessons to children about the spirit of giving have been abandoned. For the most part, children in today’s
society are more concerned with what you are going to give them than learning
how to be a giver. It all ties back to
the commercialization of Christmas and a society that has abandoned its
traditional roots for a what-can-the-world-do-for-me attitude.
Family and
friends are important to our lives. The
human race is a relational race. Without
relationship with each other, we cannot
function. Other people are important to
our well being. That being said, family
get-togethers these days seem to be filled more with drama than love. Sad as it may be, this would explain why most
only gather with their families two or three times each year.
I celebrate
Christmas because my faith recognizes this day as the day my savior, Jesus
Christ, was born into this world. My
goal as a Christian is to live my life every day growing more and more like
Christ. Although I fail daily, I still
strive. Christmas reminds me of my
failures, and His sacrifice. Living my
life to become more like Christ is what the Christmas spirit means to me. If you know anything about the Christian
faith, you probably know that Jesus was compassionate, loving, patient, kind,
sinless, full of faith, and lived His entire life completely as a sacrifice so
that the world would come to know God.
Growing in those qualities and becoming more like Christ is what the
Christmas spirit is all about to me.
Your
upbringing, environment, circumstances, experiences, and several other factors
all contribute to your current belief system, which is the basis for your
values, and thus your basis behind the meaning of Christmas spirit. Whatever your belief system, I would
encourage you to adapt and embrace your own sense of the Christmas spirit. I challenge you to use it to spread cheer and
good tidings, make the world a better place.
