449. How to Spend Christmas Meaningfully

There is a lot of festivity around Christmas. We often get busy with family gatherings and gift shopping. As good as they are, we need to remind ourselves that Christmas is Jesus’ birthday. On birthdays, everything should revolve around the birthday person’s needs. Jesus would be pleased if we paid attention to people in need around us.

When I was in my teenage years, I remember writing Christmas cards to all the students in my youth group. I stopped doing it after doing it twice, but it was a good time for me to think about each person and what they meant to me. Though I spent very little money, Christmas was still a very meaningful and fun season because of the people I was around. I was a bit immature to celebrate Jesus’ birth, but I did spend Christmas meaningfully by appreciating the people around me, people he came to love.

If you read the Bible, you will realize that there are only two budget items that God wants us to fund with his money: Helping the poor and saving the lost. Since starting the house church ministry, we have been supporting the missionaries of each house church every year. And since 2021, we have also begun supporting low-income families in Toronto through the M.I.N.D. program—the entire Christmas joint offering supports the program.

There are many small ways to remember Jesus during this season. You can give a small gift to a neighbour in need, visit someone who is sick, or support the M.I.N.D program through a Christmas offering. It is not just about being charitable, but to be reminded how much we have received through the gift of God’s own son.