Do you feel that you are having a difficult time celeratingt he true meaning of Christmas? Do you ever get tired of the more secular decorations? Over the years as we have grown in our relationship with The Lord, He has convicted us about secular traditions and celebrations of Christmas. After all, The whole reason Christmas exists is to celebrate the birth of Jesus. The word CHRISTMAS comes from Old English Cristes-messe, meaning Christ’s Mass.
We have secular Christmas ornaments that we have collected over the years that help remind us of family and friends, vacations, special memories. We still display those on our Christmas tree in our family room. We also display ornaments of scripture, angels, and those focusing on Jesus. It’s a way for us to merge the two as important parts of our lives here on earth and our hope for eternity.
In a wooden box in our kitchen, we also have a box of 24 ornaments we use for the advent season that we have made. We handglittered the inside of some of them. Others are filled with trinkets that coincide with names of Jesus, and we have used vinyl to add the names of Jesus on the outside of the ornament. We study a scripture for each name of Jesus that we have compiled over the years. You can find a set of 12 of these ornaments here.
Traditional, timeless, natural, sentimental those are words I would use to describe our style in decor. That makes it easy to find decorations in green, red, white, and gold. We use these colors to represent the colors of the gospel.
- GREEN represents God as everlasting and our growth in relationship with Him.
- RED represents the blood of Jesus shed for us.
- WHITE represents the pure, sinless life of Christ and our journey of holiness with His help.
- GOLD represents our hope and assurance of Heaven and eternity with our God.
It’s impossible to escape some of the typical symbols of Christmas. Thankfully, some have an origin of faith but some do not. It doesn’t take much to put a faith-based spin on them, though. Learning to do this not only at Christmas time, but all the time is a good way to teach your children that God is in everything. It demonstrates and includes Him in every aspect of life. That is the way it should be. Here’s a list of typical Christmas symbols that we have connected to God:
- SANTA CLAUS – Of course the most obvious secular symbol this time of year is Santa Claus. We don’t have many Santa decorations at all, especially those that portray him as a cartoon or some magical character. We have a few old world decorations of him that display him in the way that he truly lived. We have taught our children about the real Saint Nicholas, his life, and his mission. We don’t celebrate him during this time, but we do discuss how his mission on earth was to remind others of Christ’s birth and how he came to save his people. We appreciate and try to honor and carry on his mission and use him as an example of someone who tried to be like Christ. Suggestions: Santa figure with cross
- GIFTS – Reminders of the greatest gift of all: Jesus. They teach us it is better to give than receive, the generosity of Christ. Suggestions: personalized and jewelry clothing, personalized tumblers,
- BELLS – We use bells to remind us to ring out and boldly declare the good news of Christ. Suggestions: Bell with date.
- GREENERY – Represents the beautiful creation of God, His eternal being, and our growth in Christ. Suggestions: Prelit garland with pinecones, berries.
- BOWS – Remind us to bind our lives and hearts to God and His Word to our hearts. Suggestions: Bows
- SNOWFLAKES – Represent the purity of Christ and God’s beatiful and unique creation. Suggestions: Snowflake ornaments
- WREATH – Remind us of the never ending life and love of Christ. Suggestions: Boxwood, Pine
- LIGHTS AND CANDLES – Help us remember that Jesus is the Light of the World and remind us also of the great commission to be a light and share the gospel to the world. Suggestions: Window candles
- STARS – Point us to the Jesus just as the wisemen were directed to Him by His star. Suggestions: Gold stars
- HOLLY AND POINSETTIAS – Beatiful plants created by God with the gospel colors of green and red. Suggestions: Holly.
- BIRTHDAY DECORATIONS – Yes–birthday decorations. They help us celebrate the birthday of or Savior just as we celebrate the birthdays of our loved ones. Suggestions: Wall decor, Tablescape and paper supplies
- ANGELS – Remind us of those precious messengers on the night of the birth of Jesus and many other Biblical events. Angel ornaments.
- CANDY CANES – Represent the “J” of Jesus, or flipped around the crook of the Good Shepherd, and of course the white is the purity of Christ and red His shed blood.
- NATIVITY – Of course the nativity is the direct representation of the night of the birth of Jesus.
These reminders and representations help us keep the true meaning of Christmas alive and help us to celebrate in a way that draws us closer to Him. Praying you have a Christ-centered Christmas!