100 Degrees in December: The Truth Behind Why I No Longer Celebrate Christmas
Disclaimer:
If you are someone who does not believe in Jesus Christ and celebrates Christmas merely for the sake of the holiday festivities, reading this piece will probably be a waste of your time. But, you’re more than welcome to keep reading if you’d like! :)
If you are someone who identifies as a believer in Jesus Christ and are also…
Someone who celebrates Christmas, and/or…
Someone who struggles with understanding others’ personal beliefs and convictions, and/or…
Someone who has never questioned certain traditions, no matter how deeply ingrained in our lifestyle/culture those traditions may be…
This piece will probably make you feel uncomfortable, at best, and pissed off, at worst. If you’re okay with feeling uncomfortable or pissed off, honestly, that’s a good thing. Because that’s where the conversation starts (but also, I’m not here to argue).
If you’re not okay with feeling uncomfortable or pissed off… If you’d rather stay perfectly happy and comfortable right where you are, you should probably stop reading. This is just like in The Matrix, when Morpheus gives Neo two options: take the red pill (to see and know the truth) or the blue pill (to continue living in a false reality).
If you decide to take the red pill and continue reading, and at the end of this you find yourself riled up by the fact that you are, indeed, uncomfortable or pissed off, well, that’s on you. And I guess now is the perfect time for me to state that I’m not here to upset or offend anyone. Nor am I here to tell you that my choice to stop celebrating Christmas is “right” and your choice to continue celebrating Christmas — if that happens to be your choice — is “wrong.” As a recent graduate of black-and-white thinking, I no longer have that kind of time on my hands.
I’m simply here to share the truth, the series of facts that led to my decision to stop celebrating Christmas. Dassit.
If you choose to keep reading, I highly encourage you to try and remove every emotional attachment you have to Christmas and its beloved traditions before proceeding. You will need to go into this with an open mind and heart to really receive what I am about to share. If you are unable to do that, you should stop reading now because it will simply be a waste of your time and emotional energy, and I’m here to waste neither.
Lastly, for those of you who may feel agitated after reading this piece in its entirety (it’s a lengthy one lol), I challenge you, in advance, to pause and evaluate your emotions: What is it about someone else’s personal choice to move differently than what you’re accustomed to that has you so unsettled?
Just dipping my toe in the pool before I dive off the deep end. :) You ready? Here goes…
My earliest Christmas memory was when I was about six or seven years old.
I will never forget the warm, fuzzy glow tinker-belling around in my tummy the night before Christmas, when Santa would slip down the chimney and fill my living room with perfectly wrapped gifts spilling from underneath the Christmas tree. I was so excited, in fact, that I crawled out of bed and tip-toed to the top of the stairwell to get a sneak peek of Santa live and in action. But instead of catching a chubby, old, White man in a red suit in the middle of the only socially acceptable home invasion, I caught my parents — redhanded — doing Santa’s dirty work. I was shocked and a bit confused, but I don’t recall ever being emotionally crushed over my discovery. I vividly recall, however, spilling the tea to my three-year-old sister that Santa wasn’t real. And no, it wasn’t out of spite. Even in my young age, it was just something about knowing the truth and keeping it from my younger sister that didn’t sit well with me. And if you knew me growing up — hell, if you know me now lol — you know I’ve always been someone who’s always sought out the truth and couldn’t tell a lie if my life depended on it. Even if that lie came in the form of a jolly, chubby, old White man in a red suit.
Before you jump to any conclusions, this isn’t when — or why — I decided to stop celebrating Christmas. Keep reading lol.
For many years following my unearthing of the truth about Santa Claus, Christmas remained my favorite holiday. It was that magical, nostalgic time of year when the Boys 2 Men and Kirk Franklin Christmas albums — if you know, you know lol — would serenade our home on shuffle every year during Christmastime: a tell-tale sign for my sister and me that it was time to start cleaning and preparing the house for our family’s annual Christmas Eve party, a fun-filled night of Christmas games, food, and nonstop laughter. The next morning, my sister and I would wake up to a brand new collection of freshly wrapped presents — toys, clothes and shoes waiting to be played with and cherished until they were inevitably replaced the following Christmas. As far as I was concerned, the “absence” of Santa Claus didn’t change a thing. In fact, I’d say removing him from the equation early-on made Christmas even more special. It caused me to prioritize my family (and the gifts, of course lol) over the notion that some jolly, gift-giving trespasser was the highlight of Christmas.
Which brings me to Jesus Christ.
Two of my favorite songs from the classic Kirk Franklin and the Family Christmas album (again, if you know, you know) was “There’s No Christmas Without You” and “Jesus Is the Reason for the Season,” two songs with the same, well-meaning message that Christ is the true meaning of Christmas. Except, here’s the kicker — Christmas has absolutely nothing to do with Christ lol. And I’m not just talking about the mass commercialization and hyper-consumerism that many of us succumb to during the “most wonderful time of year”. I’m talking about the fact that the world-renowned holiday that has long been observed as Christ’s birthday — December 25th — is not even Christ’s birthday. In fact, the date of Christmas, along with the customs and traditions that are widely practiced today, were directly adopted — or culturally appropriated, as the girls like to say — from the pagan Winter Solstice festivals Saturnalia and Yule/Yuletide (sound familiar?).
Now, before I go any further, let me just say that I’ve actually known this information for years. Many of you reading this probably have, too — it’s literally all over the Internet lol. I don’t recall the precise moment that I found out, but I know I had to be in my early twenties. And I definitely remember, upon having found out this information, going down a deep rabbit hole of articles and YouTube videos revealing the very thing I’d desperately hoped wasn’t true — that everything I’d ever known about Christmas was a lie. The same, seven-year-old little girl who discovered Santa Claus wasn’t real immediately reared her head to the surface of my psyche, eager to share the truth with her loved ones. But after discussing it with my family, I came to the conclusion that Christmas is — and has always been — what my family and I have made it: a time to come together and share in the spirit of joy, giving and gratitude. So, I took my newfound discovery of Christmas and buried it deep, deep in the back of my mind, with no intentions of ever returning to resurrect it.
Until one, random day, in 2020, I was perusing my YouVersion Bible app when Jeremiah 10:2 lunged from the screen and held me in a headlock:
“Thus saith the Lord, learn not the way of the heathen, and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven; for the heathen are dismayed at them.
For the customs of the people are vain: for one cutteth a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman, with the axe.
They deck it with silver and with gold; they fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it move not.”
This was another piece of information I’d previously written off as nothing more than some archaic rule that didn’t apply to me and how I celebrated the birth of my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. But the very reason I had written it off before came right back and punched me dead in the face. All this time, I had been celebrating Christ (if I can even say I was really celebrating Him at all lol) the way I wanted to celebrate Him, while simultaneously rejecting the very thing He blatantly advised me NOT to do in His Word. And even still, I fought against this with rebuttals like:
But I’m not celebrating or worshipping any pagan gods on Christmas — it’s CHRISTMAS, for Christ’s sake!
The Bible wasn’t talking about decorating a Christmas tree — it was talking about a totally different group of people who were doing something that sounds like decorating a Christmas tree.
When I celebrate Christmas, I am genuinely celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ — nothing more, nothing less.
Christmas is a joyful time of year when I gather with the people I love and cherish the most — isn’t that what Christ is all about?
But my internal rebuttals only conjured up more questions, like:
If Christmas is truly about celebrating the birth of Christ, what exactly does the Christmas tree — the staple symbol of the holiday — truly represent in relation to Christ?
And if God specifically instructed His people NOT to indulge in an activity that sounds a lot like picking out and decorating a Christmas tree, why would we do this very thing on the day we claim to be Jesus’ birthday?
Where does Santa Claus fit into all of this, and why is he the face of Christmas on a day that’s supposedly commemorating the birth of Christ? Isn’t that basically like someone coming in and hijacking your birthday party?
And where the heck did all these other Christmas traditions come from? Like Christmas tree decorating, and caroling, and hanging the mistletoe, and buying gifts specifically for Christmas? How did these traditions start and how do they represent and commemorate the birth of Jesus Christ?
And why does the average American go into over a thousand dollars of debt every year purchasing gifts for everyone but the ONE person we’re supposedly celebrating? (Hell, even Santa gets milk and cookies! :/)
And if Christmas is truly a Christian holiday, why is it so widely embraced by a culture that openly rejects Christian values?
Then, I sat and thought to myself:
How would I feel if a bunch of people got together on the same day, every year, and said they were throwing me a huge birthday party — on a day that’s nowhere near my birthday — to do a bunch of stuff I never once asked them to do? How would I feel if the way they chose to celebrate me every year on this random day was by bringing me the ONE thing I specifically told everyone I didn’t like? And how would I feel sitting in a room full of people — at my non-birthday party — watching them have a grand old time, laughing, partying, and exchanging gifts they bought for one another while I sit off to the side waiting for someone to at least acknowledge me?
Well, for starters, I would probably think these people were a bunch of weirdos. I’d also probably wonder why they repeatedly insist on involving me in a day that has absolutely nothing to do with me. I would much rather them continue celebrating whatever they’re celebrating and just leave me out of it. Now, obviously, I am not Jesus Christ, so I can’t say that He shares my exact sentiments (and no, I am not implying that Jesus thinks anyone is a weirdo; I’m just saying how I would realistically think in this hypothetical situation). But looking at it this way helped put some things into perspective about how I had been honoring Christ — on His non-birthday.
Which brings me to the true origin of Christmas.
Imagine working for a company that you and all your coworkers agree has the best work culture ever. You can make up your own hours and get free, gourmet lunches prepared by a Michelin-star chef everyday (just setting the scene, here — stay with me lol). Each year, to commemorate the company’s founding, the CEO blocks off an entire week of festivities, called Founding Fest, to celebrate. No one has to work during this time and everyone still gets paid. All you have to do the entire week is show up and have a good time. Now, imagine the company suddenly gets acquired by another company called Hevel Inc. New name, new CEO, new company policies and procedures, all that. No more flexible hours or free gourmet lunches. Everyone has to be at work by 9 A.M. Needless to say, you and your coworkers aren’t too thrilled about the changes. The company morale takes a huge dip and the turnover rates spike. In an effort to retain employees, the new CEO offers an appealing proposition — to keep Founding Fest and all its fun-filled activities honoring the former company’s original founding. The only change the new CEO makes is renaming the week “Hevel Fest” to keep the name consistent with the company brand. As a result, employee retention rises along with the morale. And you and your coworkers still get to enjoy a beloved tradition started by your former company’s CEO. Everybody wins.
This is exactly how Saturnalia and Yule/Yuletide— the Roman and Germanic Winter Solstice festivals honoring ancient pagan gods — became what is widely recognized and celebrated as Christmas. During this time of year, people would cut down evergreen trees from the forest and bring them into their homes, along with boughs of holly, in honor of their gods. They’d hang wreaths on their doors and in their homes to ward off evil spirits, and mistletoe was hung as a symbol of love and fertility in honor of their goddess Frigg and her son Baldur. Ancient European pagans would indulge in 12 festive days of gift-giving, feasting, merrymaking, and singing door to door…in the nude (the X-rated version of Christmas caroling). In celebration of the Germanic Yule/Yuletide, children of the Norse culture would leave their shoes by the fireplace on the eve of the Winter Solstice for the chief Norse god, Odin — a white-bearded man cloaked in fur and a wide-brimmed hat who, according to Norse mythology, traveled through the winter night sky from house to house on his magical, eight-legged horse named Sleipnir. The children’s shoes, filled with sugar, carrots and hay for Sleipnir, were placed by the fireplace for when Odin would slip down the chimney later that night to fill their shoes with goodies in return. Over time, this would evolve into the tradition of leaving cookies for Santa and hanging Christmas stockings on the mantlepiece. Odin — affectionately known in ancient Norse culture as “Father Yule” — played a significant role in the fusion of myths, legends and folklore that gave birth to the jolly, white-bearded gift-giver we know today as “Father Christmas”, aka Santa Claus.
In the fourth century A.D. (after the death and resurrection of Christ), the Roman Catholic church attempted to do a mass conversion of pagans to Christianity — hence the name Christmas (Christ-mass) — by adopting the ancient pagan customs and traditions. Additionally, Pope Julius I chose — I repeat, CHOSE — December 25th to be observed as the date of Christ’s birth (despite multiple historical clues suggesting Christ was born in warmer months) in an effort to seamlessly absorb pagan traditions and increase Christianity conversion rates (talk about a marketing strategy!). As a result, the Roman Catholics successfully converted the pagans to Christianity, and the new converts got to keep their beloved Winter Solstice festival. Just like in the Hevel story, everybody wins.
More than twenty centuries later, here we are — celebrating the same festival that was purposely rebranded to keep a slew of pagan traditions alive for the sake of religious politics. Sure, over time the holiday has evolved — on a morally conscious level — to a more family-oriented time of gathering and gift-giving. However, that doesn’t erase the symbolic origins of the customs and traditions we still cherish and carry on today. Nor does it erase the fact that many of us have been blindly celebrating a day — in the name of Jesus Christ — that has absolutely nothing to do with the birth of Jesus Christ. A holiday that existed for CENTURIES before Christ was even born (and born during a completely different time of year at that)! A holiday with the EXACT same customs that God specifically warned His people against adopting (and clearly, we didn’t listen lol). All the Roman Catholics did was come in and slap a new name on top of Saturnalia/Yuletide to manipulate a group of people into converting to Christianity, and thus duping believers — myself included — into genuinely believing we were celebrating the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. And it worked.
Once I finally faced all the facts, I had to be real with myself and accept the truth for what it is:
If the ancient Roman pagan festival Saturnalia and its Germanic counterpart Yuletide never existed, Christmas — and how it’s culturally celebrated today — most likely wouldn’t exist (fun fact: the pagan winter festival Yuletide is actually synonymous with Christmas. Google it!)
Santa Claus, the pop culture icon of Christmas, being inspired by Odin, the chief Norse god that was worshipped during Yule/Yuletide, makes total sense. Many say he was inspired by a patron saint named Nicholas, but according to Wikipedia and many other sources, very little is even known about this man: “The earliest accounts of [Nicholas’] life were written centuries after his death and contain many legendary elaborations.” So, to say Santa Claus was based on a man we have very little information about is a tad beyond reaching. On the contrary, the distinct parallel between Santa Claus (Father Christmas) and the Norse pagan god Odin (Father Yule) along with Santa’s flying eight reindeer and Odin’s flying eight-legged horse, is far too pungent to ignore.
The Christmas customs and traditions I’ve partaken in year after year during the holiday season — from Christmas tree decorating, to gift-giving, to getting drunk at Christmas parties — have nothing to do with honoring Christ and everything to do with that warm, fuzzy feeling we get every year during this time of year. Many of us refer to it as “the Christmas spirit”.
Aside from the smaller selection of Christmas-themed gospel music I’ve listened to every holiday season, most of the Christmas songs I’d become accustomed to playing and singing bear no mention of Christ. Rather, they mention Frosty the Snowman, Santa Claus, Rudolf the Red-Nosed Reindeer, jingle bells, decking the halls with boughs of holly, and YULETIDE (never even knew what Yuletide was all those years I had been singing it). Oh, and the popular Christmas ballad, “O Tannenbaum” (popularly sung as “O Christmas Tree”), was a Germanic folk song sang by the Norse pagans in worship of their highly revered tannenbaum (German for “fir tree”) that they’d bring into their homes every year for Yuletide.
In preparation for every Christmas holiday I’ve ever celebrated as an adult, the bulk of my time was spent Christmas shopping for my loved ones. When I was younger, I’d pen a whole laundry list of things I wanted for Christmas. As I got older, giving gifts became more important than receiving them; however, my eagerness to receive everything on my Christmas list as a child was replaced with the inherent pressure that comes with trying to find the perfect gift for your loved ones in time for the holidays. And although, for a long time, I viewed buying Christmas gifts as an act of selflessness that Christ would want me to do, none of what I was doing was intentionally focused on serving Christ. My primary motive was centered on either satisfying my own desires or satisfying the desires of others. And if I’m being completely honest, even my heart behind giving to the needy during some holidays came with self-gratifying motives.
While gathering with family and friends is a great way to spend the winter season — or any time of year, for that matter — I don’t have to partake in culturally appropriated traditions to do so, especially when said traditions were purposely adopted and built on a lie.
I know this is a lot to take in — the truth will do that for you.
But Christ also said the truth will set you free (John 8:32).
Contrary to the Roman Catholic church, I’m not here to conduct a mass conversion to Christianity. In fact, my goal for writing this piece isn’t even to convince you to stop celebrating Christmas, whether you’re a believer or not. I’m simply here to do the same, exact thing seven-year-old Kori did the day she found out Santa Claus wasn’t real: tell the truth. Whatever you choose to do with the truth is up to you.
At this point:
Some of you may have stopped reading this a long time ago (and I don’t blame you ‘cause this ish is long as hell). I appreciate you for at least attempting to read this lol.
Some of you may feel that while the facts add up and the origins of Christmas may be true, it’s not that deep because that’s not how you celebrate Christmas. That’s totally fine. But if you’re someone who condemns astrology, tarot card readings, crystals and burning sage as witchcraft, I implore you to keep the same energy you have about Christmas and channel that towards your brothers and sisters who choose to practice other common pagan-rooted customs and rituals. Be compassionate, and be consistent.
And before you bring up the other pagan-rooted traditions that are ingrained in how many of us celebrate birthdays, New Year’s Day, Easter, Valentine’s Day and Halloween, the same concept applies here as well (especially with Easter). But that’s another can of worms for another day.
Let’s stay on topic lol.
Some of you may feel uncomfortable or pissed off (I told you so lol), to the point where you may leave an emotionally charged comment justifying all the reasons you celebrate Christmas. That, too, is fine. Thank you for taking the time to read the longest piece I’ve ever written on this blog. I encourage you, again, to pause and evaluate why you’re so bothered by what someone else is choosing to do based on a) the truth and b) their personal convictions based on the truth. It may be something deeper to explore there. Again, that is between you and God. And again, I’m not here to argue. :)
Some of you, after reading this, may feel curious to do some digging of your own. I highly encourage you to do that. Even if you still choose to celebrate Christmas after doing your own research, at least you know the truth behind what you’re celebrating. BUT, if you, in any way, feel convicted by the truth of these words and your findings, don’t ignore your convictions — honor them. Seek God and His Word for wisdom and understanding. It may take YEARS before you get a clear answer on how to move, but just keep seeking and trusting God and He’ll show you how to move at the right time (Psalm 119:105).
Some of you may feel exactly how I felt the day I discovered Santa Claus wasn’t real — completely shellshocked. Because the truth is, none of it is real. It’s all fabricated, down to the date of Jesus’ birth. And while you may genuinely want to accept the truth, you find it difficult to do because it’s so, deeply ingrained in our culture, our families, our memories, and our lives. You’re afraid to accept the truth because you’re not sure what this will mean for you and your family during the holiday season. You don’t know what the reality of not celebrating Christmas looks like, and you don’t know how others will receive it. As someone who’s recently been in your shoes, I’m here to tell you that while it took A LOT of prayer and deprogramming for me to get to this point, I have so much peace. And I say this with love, but I no longer care what people think or have to say about how I’m moving because I know the decision I’ve made is rooted in truth. Not my ego. Not my emotions. Truth.
Please allow me to reiterate that I am not judging or condemning anyone who chooses to continue celebrating Christmas. That is not my job. As I’ve stated, my job is simply to share the truth.
Now that I’ve done that, some of you may be wondering how I move now that I no longer celebrate Christmas. While I’m happy to share, please be reminded that these are choices I’ve made based on my personal convictions. If you somehow misinterpret how I choose NOT to celebrate Christmas as a personal attack on how you choose TO celebrate Christmas — if that is your choice — I encourage you, again, to pause and ask yourself why someone else’s personal decision is affecting you this way.
With that being said:
I do not put up a Christmas tree or any Christmas decorations in my home.
Ironically, I haven’t put up or decorated a Christmas tree since I bought my place back in 2019. I actually almost bought a Christmas tree that year, merely for the sake of it being my first Christmas in my new home. But when I thought about how much I was never really into Christmas-tree decorating (it was actually my least favorite Christmas activity growing up lol), my last-minute efforts to buy a Christmas tree began to feel forced. So, I opted out of buying a Christmas tree that year, even though I still celebrated Christmas at the time. The following year in 2020, when all the stuff I’d previously dug up about Christmas resurfaced, my reasons for not putting up a Christmas tree held a much deeper meaning.I’ll still attend family gatherings during Christmas.
This isn’t a problem for me because I simply view it as another day of spending time with my family. While I won’t be participating in any Christmas activities, I’ll just do what I always do at every other family gathering I attend: eat, eat some more, and enjoy my people. At some point in the near future, Rob and I have already decided that we’d much rather spend this time vacationing somewhere warm, not celebrating Christmas lol.I no longer participate in Christmas shopping or Christmas gift-giving.
This year is my first year doing this. Last year in 2020, even after deciding that I no longer wanted to celebrate Christmas, I still felt guilty about the idea of not buying any Christmas gifts for my family (this thought alone required some deconstructing). So, last Christmas Eve, I caved and went to the mall with my boyfriend (who also is no longer celebrating) to purchase Christmas gifts for our families, and also to avoid the inner shame that comes with the idea of showing up for Christmas empty-handed. But after doing this, I felt even more ashamed. Like I was betraying the part of myself that has always felt this inherent need to measure up to the world’s standard. A standard that has conditioned many of us to believe that no matter how much you give of yourself during the other 364 days in the year, if you don’t buy a gift for your loved ones for this ONE particular day…well, you’re just plain selfish — a selfish, mean, old Scrooge. I no longer choose to subject myself to this standard.
So, this year, Rob and I decided to tell our families ahead of time that we are no longer celebrating Christmas, which means we will not be participating in giving or receiving Christmas gifts this year, and henceforth. We also gifted everyone with tokens of love and gratitude that we’d purchased before the holiday shopping season commenced. We chose to do it this way to show that we have no problem with giving itself — we are simply choosing to no longer put a time-stamp or box around (see what I did there lol) when and how we express our love and gratitude to the people we care about. This challenges us to be more intentional with not just what we give, but HOW we give in our day-to-day lives and interactions. Furthermore, it sheds light on the fact that giving can come in a myriad of forms outside of gifting material items. This includes:Time
Time is literally the most precious gift anyone can ever give because it’s limited. We often say time is money, but time is actually far more valuable than money. In fact, time is INVALUABLE. There’s no amount of money in the world that can buy any of us more time here on this Earth than we already have. We all get the same 24 hours a day. And God gave us the gift of time for a reason — to share it with others.Attention
Attentively listening to a person is how we learn who they are. We learn their likes and dislikes, their strengths and weaknesses, their values and beliefs, their story and life experiences. When we truly learn how to listen — to understand, not to respond — we’re giving the other person the gift of our undivided attention. The more we listen to a person, the more we learn about them (as well as ourselves). The more we learn about them, the less we have to ask what they want us to buy them for a holiday or special occasion lol.Compassion
Being willing to put ourselves in someone else’s shoes allows us to step outside of our own paradigm and see the world from a different perspective. Doing this arms us with the ability to meet others where they are from a place of love and understanding. This is the gift of compassion.Encouragement
God’s Word tells us that there is a season for everything (Ecclesiastes 3:1-8). We have high seasons and low seasons. Receiving an uplifting word of encouragement is what gives us the gift of hope to endure those seasons. You may not always know the perfect thing to say to a friend who may be going a tough time, but that’s okay. Sometimes, a listening ear is all the encouragement a person needs.Servitude
Genuinely serving others is another form of giving. When we see someone in need of a helping hand and we have the means and capacity to provide it — even in times when we may not feel motivated to help — do it. By genuinely serving others (without expecting something in return), we are giving them the gift of generosity.Tokens or Gestures of Love, Gratitude and Kindness
These are the gifts we’ve become most accustomed to giving on holidays and special occasions. As I mentioned earlier, there’s nothing wrong with expressing our appreciation through tokens of love, gratitude and kindness. But in times when we may find ourselves overcompensating out of guilt, obligation, or expectation, that’s when we must pause and check our hearts. Are we giving out of love, or obligation? Are we giving out of gratitude, or fear of abandonment and rejection? Are we giving out of kindness, or the expectation of reciprocity? Questioning our intentions will help guide our actions.Respect
Man, respect is a beautiful thing. There was a time when I used to confuse likability with respect. I thought you had to like a person in order for them to “win” your respect (whew, thank God for deliverance). But respect isn’t won or earned, it’s simply given. You set the standard by first respecting yourself, which makes respecting others effortless (whether they like and/or respect you or not). Respect is simply a matter of honoring your boundaries (what you will and won’t accept), and honoring another person’s boundaries (what they will and won’t accept). But here’s the tripped-up part I’ve learned about respect: Some people aren’t willing to accept what you’re willing to give — whether it’s your attention, time, service, encouragement, or a kind token or gesture. So, you give them respect simply by honoring their boundaries — no matter how difficult that may be — rather than trying to project your will or willingness onto them. Respect is a gift — not a reward.
The common denominator in all these forms of giving is the one word that culture has reduced to a material possession: Present. Not buying a present. Not giving or receiving a present. Being present. We must be present to give our time. We must be present to listen. We must be present to give compassion. We must be present to serve. We must be present to give encouragement. We must be present to give tokens of gratitude. We must be present to give respect. Our presence — how we show up for every single moment of our lives — is a gift from God that we can freely and lovingly share with others.
Our presence IS the present.
Okay, now back to Christmas lol.
It’s easy to replace the truth with tradition when we don’t know the true meaning behind the traditions and customs we follow. But what we cannot do is separate the tradition from its original intent or purpose for being created, no matter how much we may believe otherwise.
Can you imagine someone walking down the street wearing a KKK-style hood and not being a white supremacist? Let’s say they recently moved here from another country and have no knowledge of the KKK and its history or customs. They just genuinely like the style and feel of the hood and merely wear it for the aesthetic — a totally different reason than what the KKK originally wore it for. It would be very difficult for you to separate the symbolism and customs attached to the the KKK hood from this person’s intention for wearing it. This is exactly how many early Christian groups felt about the celebration of Christmas when it was first adopted and commercialized as a Christian holiday. It was difficult for many people to separate the pagan symbols, rituals and customs associated with Christmas from their original meaning and purpose. In fact, many early Christian groups banned the celebration of Christmas because of its direct ties to paganism.
Traditions are purposely created to carry on sacred customs and rituals from generation to generation. And while there is nothing inherently wrong with tradition itself or even starting traditions of your own, there is something to be said about the traditions many of us have blindly adopted and embraced in the name of Jesus Christ, in observance of a day that’s not even His birthday.
There is a reason Christmas is the most commercialized holiday of the year — and it’s not because of Christ.
There is a reason Santa Claus is the cultural icon of the season — and it’s not because of Christ.
There is a reason the Christmas tree is the staple symbol of the holiday — and it’s not because of Christ.
There is a reason behind the magical feeling of the “Christmas spirit” — and sorry, Kirk Franklin, but it is not Jesus Christ.
There is a reason — a deeper, spiritual meaning — behind all of it. And that reason, my friend, is deception (Colossians 2:8).
According to Merriam-Webster, the meaning of deception is:
The act of causing someone to accept as true or valid what is false or invalid.
To trick.
Deception is what has caused many of us to believe that Christmas is a holiday commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ when 100% of its origins and traditions came from pagan religions, centuries before Christ was even born (this is what God was referring to in Jeremiah 10).
Deception is what has caused many of us to blindly adopt and embrace a set of customs and rituals that God openly speaks out against in His Word.
Deception is what has caused many of us to unconsciously succumb to pagan idolatry hidden under a paper-thin veil of Christian nomenclature.
If what we know as Christmas today remained under its original namesakes, Saturnalia and Yuletide, the meaning behind the traditions we’ve appropriated under the mask of a “Christian” holiday would be fully exposed with no well-meaning ideologies to hide behind. Many of us who are believers in and/or followers of Christ would see no purpose in entertaining such traditions because they are deeply steeped in paganism. This includes the beloved Santa Claus who, in fact, is not based on a patron saint but a pagan deity named Odin who was — and still is — revered by many during the Winter Solstice season.
The ONLY reason Christmas is relevant today is not because it commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, but because it was “reformed” — more like rebranded — by religion, and commercialized by culture. Period.
And the only thing we’re truly commemorating on this day is the fact that the Roman Catholic church leaders used religious falsehood and politics to successfully manipulate the masses, all in the name of Christ. It’s literally right there in the name of the holiday lol. If we don’t acknowledge anything else, at the very least, we can acknowledge this.
Do I believe celebrating Christmas is wrong?
Honestly, it’s not a matter of what I believe, but what you choose to believe and accept as truth.
God plainly states in Jeremiah 10:2-5 not to adopt the custom of taking a tree from the forest and decorating it with ornaments — because, to Him, it is vain. Translation: “Don’t honor Me how other people honor their gods. It is meaningless. Please, never do this in My Name.”
If I told my boyfriend, “I hate sunflowers. Please, never give me sunflowers, ever in life,” and he proceeds to present me with a fresh bouquet of sunflowers every year for our anniversary, I would seriously question his motives for repeatedly giving me something I specifically stated I didn’t like. Replace the sunflowers with something you don’t like in that same scenario and tell me if you’d feel differently. We all have no problem sharing our love language, likes, and dislikes with our partners, in hopes that they will honor them. I view God’s Word no differently. His Word is His Love Language. All He wants us to do is honor it.
So, if you consider yourself a follower of Christ and you truly believe in God and His Word, then you already have the wisdom — His Word — to draw your own conclusion of whether celebrating Christmas is right or wrong.
God’s Word says, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it? I, the Lord, search the heart and test the mind, to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his deeds.” - Jeremiah 17:9-10
At the end of the day, it all comes down to your heart. As I stated earlier, questioning our motives (aka our hearts) will help guide our actions. So with that, I’ll share the questions that helped lead me to my decision:
Is my choice based on honoring God how He wants me to honor Him, or how I want to honor Him?
Is it based on honoring God, or honoring my desires?
Is it based on honoring God, or honoring my family rituals?
Is it based on honoring God, or honoring my holiday memories?
Is it based on honoring God, or honoring the Christmas spirit?
Is it based on honoring God, or honoring my fear of judgment from others?
Is it based on honoring God, or honoring a tradition that was never meant to honor God?
Be honest with yourself, pray for discernment, and you will get the answer.
Again, I’m not here to judge — whatever you choose to do with the truth is up to you.
In her timeless classic, “Everything is Everything,” the legendary and prophetic Ms. Lauryn Hill said it best:
I wrote these words for everyone
Who struggles in their youth;
Who won’t accept deception,
Instead of what is truth.
Christ said:
“I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father [not to be confused with Father Christmas :)] except through me.” - John 14:6
So, in the spirit of Truth during this midwinter season…
Peace and blessings;
Love and prosperity;
Everything is everything.
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Father, I pray that You may soften, expose, and purify our hearts. Open our minds to truth and remove the veil of deception from our eyes, so that we may see clearly. You said our time here on earth is but a mist, a vapor. Your Word also says You placed eternity in our hearts so that we may have a lingering desire to dwell in Your eternal presence. Many of us don’t know it, but we’ve been searching for You our entire lives. We search for You in popular customs and traditions. We search for You in material possessions. We search for You in our careers. We search for You in our businesses. We search for You in validation from others. We search for You in self-gratification. We search for You in our constant toiling to meet the world’s standard of success. We search for You in our addictions. We search for You in our identity. We search for You in our limited wisdom and understanding. We search for You because You created us in Your image and likeness to exist with You in eternity. Help us to see that we don’t have to look outside of ourselves to find You, because You are in all of us. All we have to do is believe and walk in the truth of Your Word. We are not perfect, but You never expected us to be; for Your Word says that Your power is made perfect in our weakness. Thank You for exposing me to truth and using me as a vessel to activate Your other vessels here on this earth. Thank You for Your unconditional love and undeserved grace. Thank You. I Love You. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
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