Tag: Christmas

Who Are You Leading Your Children To?

I have never sat on the knee of a Santa Claus (at least to my knowledge, my parents my say different.) Nor, have I ever had a desire to sit on the knee of Santa Claus. As previously stated in a couple different blogs, I do not believe in Santa and I will not teach my children that Santa is real. You may not like the stance I take on this issue and I am fine with that. I think it is wrong to lie to our children. And then turn around and expect them not to lie to us….come on, let’s use some common sense here. I promise, this is the last blog about Santa this year.

Last night at church, someone said something about my baby looking like one of Santa’s elves and before I could stop myself, I said we don’t do Santa at our house. Then he said something that I cannot stop thinking about. What he said, I guess that I have never even really thought about before.

This elderly gentleman said something along these lines. “You know the difference between Jesus and Santa? Santa’s first question when you sit on his knee is ‘What’s your name?’ Santa doesn’t know your name, but Jesus knew you before you were even born.”

I started to think about this question, Who am I leading my children to? The Bible says in Mark 10:13-14, “And they brought young children to him, that he should touch them: and his disciples rebuked those that brought them. But when Jesus saw it, he was much displeased, and said unto them, Suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God.” Young children are at the age where they believe anything. I know this because I have a 3 year old. I don’t want to lead her to a man, who dresses up in a costume. I don’t want to lie to her about Santa. I want to lead her to Jesus Christ. I want her to know that He is the one who will always be there for her no matter what she goes through.

UNLIKE SANTA, JESUS ALREADY KNOWS:

MY NAME – Jesus knows who I am!! “Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.” Jeremiah 1:5 JESUS NEVER HAS TO ASK FOR MY NAME!! HE ALREADY KNOWS WHO I AM!! If that doesn’t make you shout, then I don’t know what will!

Jesus never forgets my name! No matter how far I go or how long I am gone, I can always come back to Him and He will know my name! Santa can’t do that. He isn’t going to remember your name. He isn’t going to remember your name next year or the year after that. So, why would I push my child towards Santa when there is already a great and mighty and ALIVE being that knows who they are.

MY NEEDS – As I was thinking about the truth that Jesus already knows my name. I realized He also already knows my needs. “Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him.” Matthew 6:8 JESUS KNOWS MY NEEDS!! BEFORE I EVEN ASK HIM!

I guess the second question that Santa asks is, what do you want for Christmas? Isn’t it amazing that he has to ask that…I thought he knew everything? He knows when you are sleeping, he knows when you are awake, but he doesn’t know what you want? Such confusion from a ‘mighty being.’ It is good to know that I have a Heavenly Father that knows my needs, BEFORE I EVEN ASK!!! And it brings joy to my heart, that the same Father who knows my needs, knows my daughter’s needs and what she wants. Yes, God listens to little children. That is why I will lead my daughter to the Heavenly Father as He is the one who knows her and her needs.

MY NEXT STEPS – I guess another question Santa asks is, ‘Have you been a good boy or girl?’ I thought he already knew. I am really confused now. Santa doesn’t know my name, what I want or if I have been good or bad. I really hope he doesn’t confuse me with that other kid in class who has the same first name but is really bad. I have been good this year. I guess I better be extra good until Christmas to make Santa doesn’t get confused. I wonder if any child has thought this. Santa doesn’t know what you have done or will do.

But I am happy to say that there is a God in Heaven who cares enough about me and you that He knows our past, our present and our future. He knows the steps we have taken and He knows the next steps we will take. “A man’s heart deviseth his way: but the Lord directeth his steps.: Proverbs 16:9

So why would I lead my child to Santa, who knows absolutely nothing about them. Who doesn’t even care for them. Especially when we have a Lord and Saviour who loves them and knows everything about them and even TELLS us to bring our children to Him.

We as parents have a duty to raise our kids right. I know we all may have different opinions on different issues, but please let’s stop lying about Santa being real. Let’s make Jesus Christ the one and only focus of Christmas and every other day of the year. Let’s lead our children to Jesus, because He knows their name, He knows their needs and He knows their next step!

Have a Merry CHRISTmas!!

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How To Ruin Christmas

Christmas is a time of celebrating the birth of Christ, but we do a good job messing that up. Today I want to just point out a few ways that you can ruin Christmas. And no, the ideology of Santa isn’t a main point, go read the last blog for some of my thoughts on Santa.

I have been thinking about the traditions I want to establish with my children when it comes to celebrating Christmas, and also the things to avoid. We have to do our due diligence as parents to teach and train our children the real reason for Christmas, especially in this materialistic world we live in.

You can ruin Christmas by forgetting the reason of the season.

As the old saying goes, Jesus is the reason for the season. Christmas is the celebration of the birth of Christ, the Saviour of the world. Throughout the hustle and bustle of the season, all the parties and family gatherings, through everything that is going on, don’t forget that Jesus Christ is the reason for our celebration! Read the Christmas story from the Bible on Christmas morning before doing anything else! Sing ‘Happy Birthday’ to Jesus on Christmas! Do things that always put Christ at the forefront of your Christmas celebration.

You can ruin Christmas by going into debt.

In this materialistic world, we are so focused on buying the biggest and the best toy, gadget or whatever the popular thing is at that moment. People will go into debt to try to buy whatever they can for family and friends. Be realistic with your budget when it is time to buy presents for people. If you don’t have the extra money for it, you don’t have the extra money! Just remember that after Christmas is over, you still shouldn’t be paying for that gift months later.

You can ruin Christmas by focusing on what your getting and not what your giving.

Christmas is the season of giving. God gave His Son to us, expecting nothing in return. Your Christmas gift giving shouldn’t be predicated on what that person is giving to you. Your gift giving should be based on what that person means to you (stay in your budget!) We live in a selfish society where everyone is out to get what they can, no matter what. Let’s change that way of thinking and see what we can give to others, not just at Christmas but throughout the rest of the year.

Please Don’t Ask Me To Lie

It amazes me that at Christmastime, the time we celebrate the birth of Christ, the Saviour of mankind, we also partake in the sin of lying.

The first recorded sin in the Bible was the lie told by Satan. From the belief of that lie, a decision was made and now we are all sinners. Throughout the Bible we see how much God gates lying. In Proverbs 6, it’s part of the things the Lord hates.

Yet at Christmas, we lie. We lie and tell our children that Santa is real. We lie and tell them that he brings them presents based on whether they have been good or bad. We lie and tell them that he eats the cookies and and drinks the milk.

We teach our children not to lie. We teach them to be truthful and honest in everything they do. We even discipline them when they lie to us. So why lie to your children about Santa Claus.

My point is, you can tell your children what you want, but please don’t ask me to lie for you. Please don’t expect me to lie either. I don’t have a Bible verse that says that Santa Claus isn’t real so don’t believe in him, but I do have verses about lying. So please don’t ask me to lie.

I promise, I will not go out of my way to tell your child that Santa Claus isn’t real, because that’s between you, your child and God. But I also will promise this, I will not lie to your child either. I will be tactful, I will use wisdom, and in this case, I would just tell your child to go to you as their parent with any questions about Santa Claus.

I would also ask this of you, “Please don’t lie to my children about Santa Claus being real.” You don’t want me undermining your lie of Santa Claus to your child, please don’t undermine the truth I am trying to instill in my child.

I will also ask this of you, “Please don’t expect my children to lie to your child about Santa Claus either.” I will not tell my child to go around and tell other kids that Santa isn’t real, but if at some point it comes up in their conversation that Santa isn’t real, then I apologize that your child found out from my child that you have been lying to them.

As my daughters grow up, I want them to trust everything that their daddy and mommy tell them. I don’t want them to ever have a sliver of doubt in their mind that we may be lying to them. I want them to know that we will always be truthful and honest with them, just like we expect them to be with us. I want them to understand that they may not always like what we tell them, but at the same time, we are telling them the truth to help them, not hurt them.

I understand everyone’s parenting style differs. I know that I am young at this thing of parenthood, 4 years almost, but I am doing my best to raise my children the best way I know how. And one of those ways is by not lying to them, even about Santa Claus. Yes, I know I have areas to grow in and things I need to learn, but from a young age, I was taught not to lie, and now I want to teach my children that.

So to sum it all up, once again, please don’t ask me to lie. Please don’t ask my children to lie. Please don’t lie to my children.

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Thanks for your continued reading! If you would like to support us but love shopping on Amazon more, just click on this link to shop! When you do, we get a little kickback, it is just something that helps keep this blog going!!

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