MY LOVE/HATE RELATIONSHIP WITH CHRISTMAS
OK, call me the GRINCH if you like. Label me EBENEZER SCROOGE if it makes you feel better. I've heard it all. You won't be the first. You, certainly, won't be the last. There are some things about Christmas I just don't like. OK, I REALLY don't like.
MATERIALISM: We all struggle with materialism. But, it really bothers me that the celebration of the birth of our Savior has become an excuse to place our materialism on steroids.
BONDAGE: These two go hand-in-hand. Because of our materialism, most of us will buy way more than we can afford and sink ourselves further into the bondage of debt.
GUILT: So many feel they need to go everywhere, do everything, please everyone out of a sense of guilt, that may have been there already, but gets a few yule logs thrown on it to stoke the fire into a full blaze.
EXCESS: Whether you're an alcoholic, a spend-aholic, a worry-aholic, a sex-aholic, or one who struggles deeply with self-image or self-worth, etc., etc,. etc.,...Christmas seems to ramp those things up, or even provide an opportunity to feed your disease under the guise of, "But, it's Christmas!".
Here's the deal, people...I love the celebration of the birth of our Savior. But, I'm smart enough to know that every bad thing is a good thing perverted. Satan doesn't create. God creates. Satan perverts. Why would we be surprised to think that Satan would work overtime to try to pervert a time when ALL our attention is on the birth of Jesus, and Satan gets no attention? Think about it. He's gotta be working overtime.
"And so, I'm offering this simple prayer, from kids from one to 92..."
1. Keep it SIMPLE
2. Keep it about JESUS
3. Keep it SMART (be aware of the dangers and avoid them like the plague)
4. Keep it FUN
"And have yourself a merry little Christmas now!"
MATERIALISM: We all struggle with materialism. But, it really bothers me that the celebration of the birth of our Savior has become an excuse to place our materialism on steroids.
BONDAGE: These two go hand-in-hand. Because of our materialism, most of us will buy way more than we can afford and sink ourselves further into the bondage of debt.
GUILT: So many feel they need to go everywhere, do everything, please everyone out of a sense of guilt, that may have been there already, but gets a few yule logs thrown on it to stoke the fire into a full blaze.
EXCESS: Whether you're an alcoholic, a spend-aholic, a worry-aholic, a sex-aholic, or one who struggles deeply with self-image or self-worth, etc., etc,. etc.,...Christmas seems to ramp those things up, or even provide an opportunity to feed your disease under the guise of, "But, it's Christmas!".
Here's the deal, people...I love the celebration of the birth of our Savior. But, I'm smart enough to know that every bad thing is a good thing perverted. Satan doesn't create. God creates. Satan perverts. Why would we be surprised to think that Satan would work overtime to try to pervert a time when ALL our attention is on the birth of Jesus, and Satan gets no attention? Think about it. He's gotta be working overtime.
"And so, I'm offering this simple prayer, from kids from one to 92..."
1. Keep it SIMPLE
2. Keep it about JESUS
3. Keep it SMART (be aware of the dangers and avoid them like the plague)
4. Keep it FUN
"And have yourself a merry little Christmas now!"
I get labeled as "Grinch" and "Scrooge" myself. Typically, I despise everything about the Christmas season, (mostly what it does to people) all the way up until I am at Christmas Eve service. It is there that the spirit (Christmas and Holy) finally shine through.
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