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What do you mean when you say “you’re on the fence”? Sorry! I don’t understand that part!
My family has always celebrated Christmas, but we usually don’t do much. The last time I remember getting a Christmas tree was maybe 12? years ago??? We don’t give gifts to each other either…but there’s no religious reason why we don’t.
Actually, this year, we did get a tree which was a lot of fun! It’s kind of funny since my siblings and I are older now…and now we’re starting to decorate trees and thinking of making ginger bread houses…
We love singing the Christmas hymns. We sing one before each meal until sometime in late January. We also love reading about the history of Christmas.
"He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose."~ Jim Elliot
We also have a new tradition where we eat a different cuisine for dinner on the three(?) nights leading up to Christmas. Like Mexican, Chinese, pizza, and then on Christmas Eve we eat finger foods so there aren’t a lot of leftovers to leave room in the fridge for left over Christmas dinner. 😋
Lol pretty much. My family usually has Chinese food or just a bunch of hors d’oeuvres. It’s a tradition for us to eat candy for breakfast and stay home all day on Christmas Day XD
"Io non ho bisogno di denaro.
Ho bisogno di sentimenti."Romans 14:5-6 ESV — “One person esteems one day as better than another, while another esteems all days alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. The one who observes the day, observes it in honor of the Lord. The one who eats, eats in honor of the Lord, since he gives thanks to God, while the one who abstains, abstains in honor of the Lord and gives thanks to God.”
I see no problem with celebrating Christmas (Or most other holidays). If a person celebrates it, do it to honor God. If a person doesn’t celebrate it, do it to honor God.
About the whole pagan thing. Do you use the names for the days of the week? (Sunday, Wednesday, Saturday, ect) Those where given those names to honor Roman gods. Are you honoring or viewed as honoring Roman gods by using them. No.
You will love what you spend time with.
Oh i love that!!
Write what should not be forgotten. — Isabel Allende
My blunt and honest opinion? I think Christians who choose not to celebrate Christmas are living from a place of religion and not relationship with God, where it has become more about what you do and don’t do than truly living with Jesus. That’s a blanket statement, and I’m sure it doesn’t apply to everyone- if God has genuinely convicted someone about celebrating Christmas and they don’t do it for that reason, then that’s fine for them. I, too, have heard about the discussions of paganism, but why would God tell me I can’t celebrate the birth of His Son simply because the enemy has tried to twist and distort it? I’ve also heard that December 25th probably isn’t the actual day that Jesus was born, but I don’t think it really matters. If the day itself is going to be in dispute anyway, then why not just select a day to celebrate? I think there’s beauty in stopping to celebrate Jesus and the reason why He was born, and to have fun in the meantime. Celebrations are supposed to be fun, and I think God loves to have fun with us. Look at all the feasts and celebrations the Jews have throughout the year- God was the One who ordained those.
As for specific Christmas traditions, I think it comes down to your personal convictions. Like @esther-c, I didn’t grow up with Santa Claus. My parents didn’t want us to become distracted from the meaning of Christmas by all the secularism, but I don’t have any problem with people including Santa in their celebrations as long as that doesn’t become the whole focus. What do you think of when you think of Santa? A jolly fat man handing out gifts? Joy and laughter and fun? All of those things are qualities of God anyway, so if you want to include Santa in your traditions, I don’t have a problem with that. Essentially, my standard for celebrating holidays or traditions comes down to, does it reflect the nature and character of God? If it reflects Him, then naturally it can be used to honor Him.
"Real love is for your good, not for your comfort." -Justin Whitmel Earley
I do. I also have friends who do not. One family I know celebrate a Christian version of Hanukkah instead, which is essentially celebrating how Jesus brought light into the world. The other doesn’t observe anything that could be confused with Winter Solstice and Yule. For me, I agree with @power . The holiday is what you make it.
My family celebrates Christmas pretty enthusiastically. We don’t do Santa, but we have a tree, hang up stockings, and share presents. We spend time with family and have some
crazyfun traditions. Instead of having Santa bring the presents, we get gifts for each other, which means the tree gets swamped and it’s fantastic. However, for years the first thing that went under the tree was a Fisherprice nativity (which tells you how old we were when it became tradition.). Christmas is a time of celebrating the Greatest Gift of All – God’s love in action.You have listened to fears, child. Come, let me breathe on you... Are you brave again? -Aslan
It just wouldn’t be Christmas without a Fisherprice nativity.😃
Tempus adest gratiae
Hoc quod optabamus,
Carmina laetitiae
Devote reddamus!Random side note because I did recently find this out. Easter is mentioned in the KJV Bible (Acts 12:4), but it was an incorrect/imperfect translation. Most other translations use Passover.
We also have a new tradition where we eat a different cuisine for dinner on the three(?) nights leading up to Christmas.
That’s awesome. A lot of people I know eat tamales and enchiladas, but that’s kind of a holiday staple for around here.
First Grand Historian of Arreth and the Lesser Realms (aka Kitty)
Fork the GorkIt just wouldn’t be Christmas without a Fisherprice nativity.😃
Agreed. XD
First Grand Historian of Arreth and the Lesser Realms (aka Kitty)
Fork the GorkHiii. I’m gonna be the first on here to say that I don’t celebrate Christmas, and neither does my immediate family (meaning parents/siblings). :3
(and that’s one reason why Christmas will be pretty much absent from everything I write as well🤷🏻♀️)
However, I don’t look down on anyone that does. Celebrating or not celebrating Christmas is entirely left up to your own decisions/personal convictions, and in the end it’s between you and God.
It’s kinda funny, because my parents went over why they decided to stop celebrating Christmas yesterday, so this forum is very timely😂 ultimately when I get older, it’ll be my decision, as my parents have already stressed, but I personally already see myself staying away from Christmas when I have my own home as well.
We’ve poured research into the history of Christmas, and its origins in Roman, Greek, and German paganism. Tied to worship of Idols, the sacrificing of children to several said Idols, Saturnalia (a Roman holiday to worship Saturn; also the celebrating of the Winter Solstice), and other such instances, Christmas became a Christian Holiday when Constantine decided, to help others convert to Catholicism, combine Pagan and “Christian” customs.
My family likes to go back to Deuteronomy 12, where God tells the Israelites to not worship him in the same way that the Pagans in the Promised Land honored their Gods:
2 You shall surely destroy all the places where the nations whom you shall dispossess served their gods, on the high mountains and on the hills and under every green tree. 3 You shall tear down their altars and dash in pieces their pillars and burn their Asherim with fire. You shall chop down the carved images of their gods and destroy their name out of that place. 4 You shall not worship the Lord your God in that way. (emphasis added)
And
29 “When the Lord your God cuts off before you the nations whom you go in to dispossess, and you dispossess them and dwell in their land, 30 take care that you be not ensnared to follow them, after they have been destroyed before you, and that you do not inquire about their gods, saying, ‘How did these nations serve their gods?—that I also may do the same.’ 31 You shall not worship the Lord your God in that way, for every abominable thing that the Lord hates they have done for their gods, for they even burn their sons and their daughters in the fire to their gods.
At the time of the Apostles and even up to the 4th century AD, celebrating Jesus’ birth just…wasn’t a thing. There was no Christmas, nor did God ever call for any of us to celebrate his son’s coming to Earth. (not to mention that Jesus was probably born in September anyhow)
Evergreen tree grooves were often used in Pagan worship practices, places where infants were sacrificed to Molech (or Tammuz, or Nimrod, and I believe a couple of others), and places where s*xual acts took place to worship said Idol(s).
Nimrod/Saturn/Molech/Baal, like Satan, is the fire god who destroys and devours little children, and Nimrod is the origin of what we know today as “Santa”.
Again, in the end it’s up to you, but for me personally, I feel convicted when I think about what the symbols we associate with Christ have ties to the worship of idols (including infant sacrifices).
Not everyone is going to feel that way, and it’s okay if you don’t.
22 The faith that you have, keep between yourself and God. Blessed is the one who has no reason to pass judgment on himself for what he approves. 23 But whoever has doubts is condemned if he eats, because the eating is not from faith. For whatever does not proceed from faith is sin.
Romans 14: 22-23
But for me, celebrating Christmas (and Easter, but that’s a story for another day) is something I don’t do nor wish to do. I visit family that celebrate Christmas, but I don’t want those things in my own home now and in the future.
You don’t have to agree, and I’m not here to argue this point because I’ve already made my decision.
And if you look down on me for this, go on ahead. Makes no difference to me😂
sources:
garylite.com/2019/03/07/the-true-meaning-of-christmas-nimrod-the-lord-of-x-mas/
rawgist.com/the-true-origin-of-christmas-child-sacrifice-nimrod-christmas-tree-santa/
history.com/topics/ancient-rome/saturnalia
historycooperative.org/pagan-origins-of-christmas/
Also important to note that Americans saw/knew Christmas as a Pagan holiday until the 1800s when it became “popular” to celebrate Christmas partially because of an influx of German/Irish immigrants who regarded Christmas as a celebration of Jesus’ birth
I second everything you’ve said. Literally, these are the EXACT same reasons we don’t celebrate Christmas!!
INTP.
@grcr you have no idea how relieved I am to hear that someone believes the same😂 I only know 1 family irl that don’t celebrate Christmas, and it often feels like my family is alone in what we believe about Christmas, and tbh it can get low-key lonely at times
We just personally believe that God deserves better than recycled material, that He deserves the best we have, not things that were used to worship false gods.
And it just doesn’t sit right with us with all of the pagan origins of the holiday
Yeah, on nearly everything I’ve found on Christmas the stuff is regurgitated that Christmas is all pagan and completely stolen, but then when you look to objections to that, the evidence against it is much more substantial.
That sounds like a great way to celebrate Christmas.
I honestly don’t understand why a Christian wouldn’t celebrate Christmas. Sure, it’s not mentioned in the Bible (but I believe Easter isn’t either…correct me if I’m wrong), but it’s a time where we all get to set aside time to celebrate the birth of our Savior
Agreed.
Like Mexican, Chinese, pizza, and then on Christmas Eve we eat finger foods so there aren’t a lot of leftovers to leave room in the fridge for left over Christmas dinner. 😋
Yum!
"No! Monkeys should have pets, all monkeys should have pets!"
Ooh, I love singing Christmas hymns too! Also what I mean by “on the fence” about celebrating it is that I’m just not sure if I should celebrate it this year. My family always does, but doing a bit of research on it I’m not 100% certain all of the traditions are okay to do. To counter that though, I’ve also been doing research into the arguments why Christmas isn’t pagan, and at this point I’m just confused.
"No! Monkeys should have pets, all monkeys should have pets!"
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