Freedom to Celebrate Christmas
This was written by a woman who I follow on Instagram. She’s taking a break but I thought her words are so powerful that I am going to share them with you.
Sweet friends, the last few days have been so heavy and hard for me. Multiple time, due to messages I’ve received, I’ve considered closing up “shop” and walking away from this space all together. But it is not man I fear, but God alone, and so I’m going to share my heart on a topic that’s been weighing heavily on me.
The other day, I shared about my desire to decorate for Christmas early. When I shared that, I knew it was a polarizing topic. I meant the idea of decorating in October verses more transitionally after Thanksgiving. I had no idea what would happen next…
The messages I received implied it was satanic to celebrate the pagan holiday of Christmas, and that “if I was truly a believer,” I would celebrate the Biblical feasts instead.
If you’re not familiar with the Biblical feasts, these were given to the Israelites as part of the Law in Leviticus and Deuteronomy; all of which contain aspects of prophesy that would ultimately be fulfilled in Jesus.
I have to admit, I was wounded and completely taken back by the harsh accusations and spent the next several days in prayer, searching the Scriptures once again, and seeking counsel from my husband and fellow believers.
Now, I will share why our family has decided to continue to celebrate Christmas. I don’t share this as a judgment. I don’t share this as condemnation if you feel God has convicted you otherwise. I don’t share this to be a stumbling block. I simply share this because it feels completely impossible for me to hide our celebration of IMMANUEL like it’s a dirty secret.
I believe the Law was given simply to make evident our sin. The Law was unable to make us righteous, but rather produced death and bondage due to our own inability to uphold the Law or meet its requirements.
I believe the Law was given, simply put, to show our depravity, our inability to attain our own righteousness in the eyes of a Holy God, and thus, our need for a Savior as stated in Romans 7 and 8.
If WE couldn’t attain righteousness on our own, and were in bondage to sin and death because of the Law, THEN WHAT?
Enter: Jesus.
The Perfect Lamb of God – given as a ONE TIME atonement for our sins. Sent to earth as God incarnate, not to abolish the Law, but to fulfill it.
“I did not come to abolish the Law, but to fulfill it” (Matthew 5:17).
JESUS WAS THE ANSWER! We are now under a NEW Covenant! (Hebrews 7-10)
Fast Forward:
Jesus was born.
Jesus died.
Jesus rose again.
For those who have put their faith in Jesus Christ, His death and resurrection set us FREE from the bondage of sin and death, and He has made us FREE INDEED!
We now stand without blemish and fault before a loving and holy God!!! By no merit or work of our own, but by the free gift accomplished on the cross!!!
HALLELUJAH!!!
Jesus – the Messiah – the One every fiber and aspect of the Old Testament pointed to and spoke of CAME!!!
JESUS DID IT ALL!
THAT’S THE GOOD NEWS OF THE GOSPEL!
JESUS!!!
Please hear me. I do not believe there is anything sinful or wrong with celebrating the Biblical feasts, but I do believe, as Colossians says, that they were/are but a mere shadow of the things to come, and that the reality came in Christ.
“But what about the Pagan roots?”
Many, many, many things have pagan roots, but that does not inherently make the celebration of the birth of Jesus pagan. In our home, it does not include Santa Clause, elves, or anything of the like. In our home, Christmas is a time we set apart to REJOICE at the birth of our SAVIOR. The LIGHT OF THE WORLD. The ONE WHO CAME TO SET HIS PEOPLE FREE.
We are, as the angels in Luke 2, moved to praise God and say, “GLORY TO GOD IN THE HIGHEST!”
Christmas is not an idol in our home. Christmas is not pagan in our home. Christmas is a celebration of our LIVING HOPE. We will continue to celebrate the birth of our Savior. IMMANUEL – God with us. If it weren’t for Jesus’ birth (and eventual death and resurrection), we would still be held in bondage to sin and death. I will take any opportunity I can to celebrate that that is no longer the case because of Jesus Christ ALONE!
I’m not asking that you agree with me. I’m not condemning you if you feel otherwise. I’m just sharing that in our home, we do, and will continue to celebrate the very reason we have for the Hope that I profess.
And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins.
Matthew 1:21
16 thoughts on “Freedom to Celebrate Christmas”
The way I look at it is this: a tree is just a tree. God created them, so they are His and are good. Decorating the tree to make it look pretty is nothing more than making it look pretty. One may choose to use gold and silver balls to represent God’s kingdom, family ornaments to represent God’s family, and all sorts of other things. The star on top to represent the star above Bethlehem. The presents to represent the blessedness of giving and the gifts given by the wise men. Candy and cookies are merely candy and cookies, and the candy cane can represent Christ. White for purity, red for His blood, the crook for the Shepherd, and the J for Jesus. Christmas should be a time to celebrate Immanuel and remember the awesome fact that Jesus, person of the Almighty God, in perfect obedience to His Father, chose to be born as a lowly human baby in a dirty yucky place so that He could save us. What Christian could possibly have a problem with celebrating their Saviour?! Hallelujah!
I disagree with decorating for Christmas before Thanksgiving because I personally would get so tired of all the decorations by the end of December, haha. Otherwise, the argument against Christmas because of its (alleged) pagan roots is just ridiculous to me. As long as you keep the worship of God (not gifts and material things) in the center of it, I see no harm in it.
Excellent!!! This made me even more excited to decorate for Christmas this year!!! So thankful for our Lord who humbled himself by coming to earth as a baby, and for fulfilling the law by His perfect sacrificial death, and resurrection! Hallelujah!
I had no idea this was controversial! I knew Santa was, for obvious reasons, but Christmas?
I grew up with both the celebration of Jesus and the Santa thing. When I was older, I always figured Santa would not be a part of my children’s day. I never had any so it was immaterial.
I met my husband through a young adult group at church. When our group became a young marrieds group, we would often talk about traditions and what our plans were for our future families. One of my friends told of her family celebrations and I have to admit that I wrote them all down when I got home because I thought they were so wonderful. And combine them with an idea that I had.
With just the two of us, Santa has never been an issue, although we do tell the dog that Santa Paws left some treats in his stocking lol. No tree, no feasts, etc. Just church and a quiet day at home. And the book of Luke, of course.
The attempt to avoid everything good because pagans dud something similar is absurd. I’m sure laughing was part of having a good time for pagans. Does that mean we should frown our way through the holidays? What a ridiculous thought.
I suspect many people will be decorating early this year. My husband said the day after Halloween, “So when can we decorate for Christmas?” He is unemployed, but usually he is so busy this time of year that he wants to just enjoy Christmas to the fullest. So he plans to put the lights up this weekend and pull out some other decorations. I usually like to keep my holiday decor in calendar order, but this year is just different all around.
I understand and respect your conviction concerning Christmas. I learned a great deal about biblical womanhood here and I am forever grateful!!!? And I have to say that the gospel message is generally clearest in your community of largely Baptist people. I love and admire you for standing for the truth in these darkest times. Only one thing is burdening me. The stand against the biblical sabbath. The whole world and our weekly cycle is based upon creation ( Genesis 1 and Genesis 2) . The biblical Sabbath has been from the beginning and will be till the end. Even in eternity. (Isaiah 66, 22-23) It is an everlasting gospel. (Revelation 14, 6) Every week we celebrate creation and redemption in Christ. On the seventh day as the word of God states.(Revelation 14, 12) Note one very important thing. There is a sanctuary in heaven. (Revelation 15, 5) The heavenly sanctuary is the real thing. The earthly sanctuary (as described in Exodus) was the copy of it. (Hebrews 8, 5) In the most holy place is the arc of the covenant , the throne of God, with the 10 commandments in it, showing His character. And HE wants to write His law in our hearts. ( Hebrews 10, 16) Yes, no obeying of the letter, but led by the Holy Spirit. (If you are not under the law why are you observing 9 commandments and a false sabbath (which is sunday – and there is no biblical evidence that God changed it to the first day of the week). ) We are saved by faith and grace alone, and because we are saved we want to live in obedience to the word of God. As you always emphasize. May Gods Spirit be with you. Much love to you all.? Praying a lot for your treatments. May the peace that passes all understanding be with you and in you, Lori.?
If you’re a Mom of littles don’t stress out over Christmas. Keep it simple sweetie (kiss). Decorating Day: keep it simple and just do what you can do in 1 day. Baking: just a few kinds of goodies… one a day for a week or all on one day or have a cookie exchange… Cleaning: the main obvious things (bathrooms, kitchen, livingroom) just what you can get done in a day or two. Cooking/ entertaining: forget the dressing and 2 kinds of salad. Mailing: keep the list short. You don’t need to send mail to your cousin’s cousin who you met one day 6 years ago.Shopping: Keep the list short as to who you want to give too. If you feel your siblings and co workers should get something, donate to a charity and tell them that in honour of them you donated money so that people can eat or whatever you do.Someday these littles will be older and can help more and then we can do more perhaps. All in all let’s keep the Christ in Christmas and teach our children the same. Can they help you package goodies for the neighbors and deliver them together? Anyone have more “simple tips??”
We are told over and over in again in the New Testament that we are no longer under the Law, thankfully! Christ fulfilled the Law and made us new creatures in Christ. The Law pointed out our sin but could never make us righteous. Christ clothed us in His righteousness. Everything we need to continue to obey that is in the Law is reiterated in the New Testament, the New Covenant. “For ye are not under the law, but under grace” (Romans 6:14). Read and study Galatians. It’s clear that we are NOT to live under the Law. “For I through the law am dead to the law, that I might live unto God” (Gal. 2:19).
We are no longer under keeping the Sabbath either. If we were, we would be under the penalty of the Law but Christ died to free us from the Law. Jesus is our Sabbath rest now! There is no command in the New Testament to keep the Sabbath.
Thank you for your prayers, Daniela. I’ve had three treatments so far. Many more to go but they are not as bad as I thought they would be because they aren’t nearly as long as Cyber Knife treatments were.
This is a lovely post. One thing I wish we could have is more civil discourse. Those who disagreed with this lady should not have attacked her and made her feel badly. We can discuss the things we disagree about without being mean and insulting. She is probably taking a break now because she was upset by hurtful comments. I have a theory that Satan just loves it when there is unrest within the Body of Christ. We must not give him the satisfaction of seeing such infighting. Lori, I am sure you and Ken have dealt with mean spirited comments and that saddens me. Praying for you as always and I hope that your treatments and recovery will be straightforward.
Thank you, Emily.
A beautiful, inspiring, and comforting message. A message well worth “sharing.”
Hello Lori, so sorry for any heartache these mean spirited people have caused you. I pray for them and you; for God’s complete restoration of your health. Satan only attacks those who he knows have an impact in transforming souls to the Light of our Savior. God protect and bless you always. God bless you for your words, advice, and scriptural knowledge you teach. Very few dedicated, scriptural truth sayers but you are! Merry a Christmas and feast in the name of our Lord, Jesus Christ, on the 25th of December or any other day of the year!
Hi Philippa, I didn’t write this article so mean spirited people have caused me no heartache. I am used to it! But thank you for your kind words and prayers.
I just found this blog. We don’t really make a big deal over the “worldly” Christmas. Years ago we stopped celebrating but again started with a different focus. My husband and I come from different backgrounds. He never once heard a prayer growing up. He thought Christmas was only about Santa. He never even knew it was about Jesus. I on the other hand knew it was about Jesus but the Christmas tree, was a central part in our home. Oh how beautiful it looked. We were made to sit and stare at the tree and soak in its beauty. To me it felt like an idol and I didn’t even know what an idol was as a child. All I know we had to sit every night in the dark and stare at the tree. So we don’t have a tree in our home anymore. I myself can’t get passed my upbringing with that.
My husband works in an office and all he ever hears is how the woman are stressed about Christmas. Christmas is not meant to be a stressful time. It always breaks my heart to hear that.
Thanks for the post!
I don’t decorate for Christmas, l do enjoy seeing how people decorate the outside of their houses, and Christmas lights, trees and so on. Christmas Eve matters more to me, being half German , thats when l go to church as due to not driving, a mile long walk and bad knees , I don’t go to my local church. Normally, Christmas Eve means two services at the cathedral, the crib service with the Nativity play for the children ,then Christmas Evensong . Thats how l discovered Brittans Ceremony of Carols, utterly beautiful , and one memorable year, going into a shop to get a card for my son, found that as l was their last customer before Christmas, l was given an artwork as a present.
Its the commercialism l don’t like , l feel sorry for all those who have to listen to endless Christmas songs , though one shop worker told me you just get used to them after a time
Happy Christmas to everyone