Christmas 2025

Long before the Christmas shopping was complete, long before the stars appeared on Christmas Eve, I began receiving email after email about "end of the year giving." The final push for non-profits to increase donations by encouraging folks to give, this Christmas, in honor of the loved one who has everything, or get that tax deductible gift in under the wire. In the days when I worked for that worldwide package delivery company and the entire Christmas season put us financially in the black, I bought goats and gave generously. Today's giving, however, looks a bit different. I no longer work outside our home. Christmas drains our coffers. Our income remains steady throughout the year; it is what it is. Giving takes the form of time, preparing lessons and praying for others. Giving means my husband uses his skills to do things for others --no recompense required. Giving looks like doing without so that others may have. And, please, no virtue signaling here --I'm just looking to make a point. 

1 Corinthians 6:19-20 says:

Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.

Bought with a price. A price greater than anything --if you are reading this right now --you've ever given. Jesus' life. He suffered the excruciating pain of His beard being ripped from His face, felt the warmth of His own blood and tasted it in His mouth. His heart broke at the betrayal by those closest to Him. He endured the humiliation and stood fast as spit clung to His hair; He heard the names they called Him. My words will never come close to expressing the weight of the price He paid.

And we --especially those of us in the West --love to whine about our rights. We've got more than any other people group, and it's never enough. But we, those of us who believe in the Reason for the Season, the truest, greatest Gift to humanity, we are not our own. Not our bank accounts. Not all those little boxes we will fill in our 2026 planner. Not our vehicles. Not that fabulous pair of boots we just got for Christmas. Not our jobs. Not our children or spouses. Not our dignity. Not our health. None of it. Granted, we serve a loving and good Father God whose love for us cannot be cleaved and plans for us are always good. But our flesh, if not in check, will resist anyway. 

So, what is God requiring you to give in the final moments of this year? As we take this day to revel in the gift of Peace brought to earth (Imagine it without Him!) and share His example of giving, let us not minimize the cost or comprehensive nature of His gift. And let us seek to give as He has given us. With all we have.

Merry Christmas!