The Grinches that Steal Christmas
Is your world coming to an end? Do you hate Christmas? Talk to us.
What do you think of as Christmas draws near? Do you eagerly look forward to shopping for presents — and the gifts that you will receive? Do you enjoy shopping at big stores, and seeing all the decorations everywhere? Does your mouth water when you smell the turkey and the pumpkin and mince pies coming out of the oven? Can you hardly wait to eat turkey, sweet and mashed potatoes, and corn?
Do you have any time to think of the real reason for Christmas — our Lord Jesus Christ coming as a baby, and how the angels heralded His birth — and how He came to give His life for us that we may join Him in heaven someday?
What is Advent?
Take a lesson: Discovering advent
Did you ever see that animated film on television, “The Grinch That Stole Christmas”? Well, I think that there are at least three grinches that can steal Christmas from us and the Son of God.
*Number One Grinch is Santa Claus.
This one sort of makes a god out of Santa Claus. After all, “he knows when we’ve been bad or good”– just as if he were God. Younger children eagerly await the gifts Santa will bring. This tends to take their eyes and thoughts off the greatest gift ever given: Jesus. Fairy tales are nice and I enjoyed them as I grew up. But really, the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ is no time for a fairy tale that presents itself as true, is it?
*Number Two Grinch is the world.
The non-Christian world has twisted the meaning of Christmas. Plays given at school used to be centered around the coming of Christ, the manger scene. Other plays like “The Grinch That Stole Christmas” have taken their place. They have stolen the real meaning of Christmas.
*Number Three Grinch is activity.
We have so much to do during the Christmas season that we have little time to think about Jesus. We have gifts to buy, trees to trim, relatives to visit, food to eat–lots of enjoyable things not wrong in themselves. But if they keep us too busy to think about our Lord Jesus then they “steal” Christmas, don’t they?
Now is a good time for all of us to determine in our hearts that we will not let the grinches steal the true Christmas spirit from us. How can we do that? During the season — and all through the year too — we can spend a minute or two each day thinking of the loving, compassionate Lord Jesus and what a difference His coming into this world has made in it and in our lives. We can praise God for the greatest gift possible, our Lord Jesus. Paul said, “Thanks be to God for his indescribably gift” (2 Corinthians 9:15, NIV).We may not be able to give the Lord Jesus Christ gold, frankincense, and myrrh, as the Wise Men did. But we can give Him our hearts and our time.
Questions: How can you cut back on activities and centre you thoughts more on the real meaning of Christmas? Tell us about one of your traditions at Christmas time that emphasizes the birth of Christ.
About the Author Muriel Larson
11 Responses to “The Grinches that Steal Christmas”
Leave a Reply
Start a Conversation
Media
What Do You Fear?
What do you fear, and why? Is it holding you back from realizing your full potential?
>Watch
- Contact
- |
- Advertising
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Link to Us
- |
- Media Releases
- |
- What we believe
I believe that God gave the world the goodness that is Santa. He encourages the spirit of giving and the art of receiving graciously. As well as learning about Jesus at home and at her Catholic School, I am helping to teach her what Santa is all about. I took her shopping the other day and she chose about 4 things for herself. She found a fluffy pet bed and immediately announced that we had to have it for our cat. I told her she had to chose between the things she wanted and the bed. Without hesitating, she chose the bed and walked up to the counter to pay. Granted, we do not have to have Santa to learn this lesson, but doesn’t it make life a little more fun with these traditions?! Greed is the true Grinch of Christmas, Not Santa!
I agree with Carrie. I grew up knowing the true meaning of Christmas, celebrated the birth of Christ at home and at church and looked forward to the arrival of Santa. However, when children today have much less of the everyday hope and magic that we had growing up, I see nothing wrong in the “fairytale of Santa”. Christians should be able to teach and celebrate both. Sometimes I think we are taking “childhood” away from our children. They have to grow up too fast already.
Jesus is the reason for the season. My children know this is the real meaning of Christmas and we focus on this by showing our gratitude in practicing good will toward men. This being said, I don’t think you praise God by slandering folklore that for hundreds of years has helped permeate the concept of being kind and giving. Christmas is not in a box, it is in Christ. I wish we could honor the true meaning of Christmas without condemning what you specifically said you enjoyed as a child. God is in the message and it’s carried many ways. The more we hear it, the more we are apt to live by it. I, for one, pray to get closer to Him in action this 2010. Bless you.
Christmas is a wonderful time through which we might be able to share Jesus Christ with our families and friends. And Em, if you feel in your heart that the Lord may be leading you in your desire to read Scripture and sing some Christmas carols in your family gathering, well, bring a little New Testament and propose that you all do just that–then read the Christmas story from Luke chapter 2, following it by singing “Silent Night,” etc. May the Lord bless this testimony!
We celebrate by putting up first the elaborate manger scene, my Grandmother made for me by hand, before any of the other decorations. We leave it up for a few days before we put anything out and just ponder on its message and the simplicity of the gospel and all it represents.
This was the devotion that I needed. I am a Christ follower and a “Christmas lover” and most of the time, it is for reasons other than it being the birth of Christ. It’s easy to get wrapped up in the hoopla of gifts, decorations, parties, etc.., only to feel empty and unfocused on the inside. Thanks for the wisdom of your words. My focus is Christ this week, and I will be trying my hardest not to let any Grinches get in the way.
Thank you for this reminder, we really needed to hear it. Pls lift up a prayer for me, I am the youngest in my family, so it is sort of ‘unheard of’ to suggest things in my family – but I have always wanted to read Scripture, or sing some songs on Christmas day. Pray that GOD might take over our Christmas this 2009, and begin some great & wonderful changes in our lives, and in each other. Thank you & God bless. Happy Holidays, everyone! :)
Our family always reads the Christmas story from Luke on Christmas morning, and we pray. We do that before any presents are opened. We have cut back on buying so much. Jesus’s birth means freedom from death.
On Christmas Eve we ask one of the grandchildren to explain what Christmas is all about before we open any of the gifts. We do not exchange gifts until the reason for Christmas is explained.
Our family always observes advent season with the lighting of candles and a devotion each night to prepare us for the coming of the Christ Child. When we decorate the tree at the placement of each ornament the child says what that ornament means about or to Jesus. The first presents on Christmas morning are our gifts to the baby Jesus for His birthday. They are usually expressions of the talents God has given each of us. Our outside decorations for the world to see are presentations
of the Nativity with music of Christmas Hymns. May you all be truly blest by the best gift of all our LORD and Savior, Christ Jesus
Wonderful devotional Muriel! Thank you!
One way that my family aims to keep the focus on Christ at Christmas is to only give each of our children….three gifts…
One is from myself, one is from my husband, and one is from both of us. We remind our son and daughter that Jesus received three gifts from the wise men…and so do they. Yes, Santa still visits…they are 12 and 6 years old, but only wrapped gifts are from us. As they mature and Santa becomes less of a focus, we hope that this tradition reminds them of the true meaning of the season. We also read,outloud, the passage of Jesus’ birth in the Bible, before opening our wrapped gifts. This has been a tradition since our 12 year old was born.
I hope that each Christmas we include more focus on Him and create meaningful memories for our family. Hope you have a Merry Christmas and a New Year full of the Lord’s blessings!