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As a Seventh-Day Adventist Christian, the instruction of Ellen White plays a big part in my decision-making process.
Finding out what Ellen White says about Christmas helped me resolve the holiday conflicts in my home.
Sister White has some very balanced and practical advice for your holiday dilemmas.
The fever-pitched climax of the holiday season is beyond a doubt Christmas. Sorry New Year, you are often an afterthought.
I admit I have not always done things right. I have done some serious back peddling over the years.
I have pondered and prayed. I have listened to sermons and presentations that rip the nostalgia away like an old band-aid and expose the pagan roots and fruits of this season.
December 25 is no more Christ’s birthday than my own.
So if observing Christ’s condescension to our planet is rather superimposed onto this season, what is there left for a Christian to do?
Can we look the other way and ignore it? You can sure try and I won’t think less of you. But with children in my home, I prefer to take this advice,
“As the twenty-fifth of December is observed to commemorate the birth of Christ, as the children have been instructed by precept and example that this was indeed a day of gladness and rejoicing, you will find it a difficult matter to pass over this period without giving it some attention. It can be made to serve a very good purpose.” AH 478.1
The world at large participates in this holiday and in many ways is open to the Christian nuances such as the birth of Christ, a savior come to our planet to redeem mankind.
Use these weeks to share the greatest gift ever given! Heaven’s best gift, the Son of God!
Using this time to capitalize on evangelism is a great use of the holiday. Here are some fun ways to do that with your family.
-Take literature and baked goods to your neighbors
-Bring sack lunches and literature to an area where homeless people are
-Take literature and individually wrapped candy cane to pass out while doing your Christmas shopping or errands.
People are in the giving and receiving mood so make the most of it by giving them life changing lieterature.
Instead of a Christmas wish list here’s a list of ways to encourage children to think of people in need instead of their own selfish wants and desires.
-Have your children make lists of things that they can do for other people over the course of the month. Whether it’s helping a neighbor or a grandparent get them thinking of other people rather than themselves.
-Is there a toy or coat collection in your area that you can contribute to?
-Secretly gift a family in need with a gift card to Walmart
-Make some easy fleece blankets to warm the hearts and laps of seniors at an assisted living facility. Here’s a link for Fleece Tie Blankets.
There are so many ways that we can encourage our children to think of other people during this time of year.
What about the home traditions? What should the holiday look like in our living rooms?
Let’s hit on some key traditions that I have often called into questions and see what the pen of inspiration says regarding these things.
Christmas Trees
“Let not the parents take the position that an evergreen placed in the church for the amusement of the Sabbath school scholars is a sin, for it may be made a great blessing. Keep before their minds benevolent objects. In no case should mere amusement be the object of these gatherings. While there may be some who will turn these occasions into seasons of careless levity, and whose minds will not receive the divine impress, to other minds and characters these seasons will be highly beneficial. I am fully satisfied that innocent substitutes can be devised for many gatherings that demoralize. AH482.4
The tree may be as tall and its branches as wide as shall best suit the occasion; but let its boughs be laden with the golden and silver fruit of your beneficence, and present this to Him as your Christmas gift. Let your donations be sanctified by prayer AH 482.2
Letters of inquiry have come to us asking, Shall we have a Christmas tree? Will it not be like the world? We answer, You can make it like the world if you have a disposition to do so, or you can make it as unlike the world as possible. There is no particular sin in selecting a fragrant evergreen and placing it in our churches, but the sin lies in the motive which prompts to action and the use which is made of the gifts placed upon the tree. {AH 482.1}
The principle here expressed is that there is no sin in having a Christmas tree, but let it serve as a vehicle for serving others. Let it be laden with offerings and gifts for the service of God and the poor.
I admit I have not successfully created a tree for this purpose in my home. I have used it in other ways.
When the children were smaller, we had a basket of red ornaments with names of Christ written on them, each night we would place one on the tree. We then read together from the Bible where that name for Christ was used and what it means to us. Certainly a tradition worth repeating!
Here’s a link for instructions on how to make your own.
So make your tree as unlike the world as possible, a living room-sized object lesson!
Gift Giving
The holiday season is fast approaching with its interchange of gifts, and old and young are intently studying what they can bestow upon their friends as a token of affectionate remembrance. It is pleasant to receive a gift, however small, from those we love. It is an assurance that we are not forgotten, and seems to bind us to them a little closer…. {AH 478.4}
It is right to bestow upon one another tokens of love and remembrance if we do not in this forget God, our best friend. We should make our gifts such as will prove a real benefit to the receiver. I would recommend such books as will be an aid in understanding the word of God or that will increase our love for its precepts. Provide something to be read during these long winter evenings.3 {AH 479.1}
There are many who have not books and publications upon present truth. Here is a large field where money can be safely invested. There are large numbers of little ones who should be supplied with reading. The Sunshine Series, Golden Grains Series, Poems, Sabbath Readings, [Note: Reference is made in this article to noncurrent publications. As the principles set forth in this connection are applicable today, these specific references are left in the article.] etc., are all precious books and may be introduced safely into every family. The many trifles usually spent on candies and useless toys may be treasured up with which to buy these volumes…. {AH 479.2}
Let those who wish to make valuable presents to their children, grandchildren, nephews, and nieces procure for them the children’s books mentioned above. For young people the Life of Joseph Bates is a treasure; also the three volumes of The Spirit of Prophecy. [Note: Early E. G. White books preceding the present “Conflict Of The Ages Series.”] These volumes should be placed in every family in the land. God is giving light from heaven, and not a family should be without it. Let the presents you shall make be of that order which will shed beams of light upon the pathway to heaven.4 {AH 479.3}
Sister White’s gift-giving counsel is something we have really enjoyed in our home. Not to say that I have never given my children a toy at Christmas.
Since learning to read, my husband and I have made it a tradition to get them books for their devotional time. Here is a list of books and links for purchase that we have given our children over the years.
We have enjoyed reading several of these books as a family worship book after they read it on their own.
If you desire a change in your holiday gift-giving but are unsure about how it will be received by your children, Ellen white has some advice on this matter.
You can teach your children a lesson while you explain to them the reason why you have made a change in the value of their presents, telling them that you are convinced that you have hitherto considered their pleasure more than the glory of God. Tell them that you have thought more of your own pleasure and of their gratification and of keeping in harmony with the customs and traditions of the world, in making presents to those who did not need them, than you have of advancing the cause of God. Like the wise men of old, you may offer to God your best gifts and show by your offerings to Him that you appreciate His Gift to a sinful world. Set your children’s thoughts running in a new, unselfish channel by inciting them to present offerings to God for the gift of His only-begotten Son.8 {AH 481.4}
Let’s make the most of this season.
-Look for ways to serve and bring joy to others.
-Show love to your family through gifts that aid them on their heavenward walk.
-Use the holiday time to teach our families and neighbors about the life of Christ.
In these ways, we can have a wonderful month of family closeness and honor our Lord.
Will you not arise, my Christian brethren and sisters, and gird yourselves for duty in the fear of God, so arranging this matter that it shall not be dry and uninteresting, but full of innocent enjoyment that shall bear the signet of Heaven? AH 483.1
I pray you will be blessed this holiday season and will shine your light brightly. Remember to subscribe to my blog to get the latest posts about homeschool, family life, modesty, and much more!
