Christmas and What it Means

Articles

Craig Chamberlain

Christmas and What it Means
Dec 4, 2003

Every year we discuss what the true meaning of Christmas is. Amid the hustle and bustle of buying gifts for loved ones and decorating our homes, some wonder whether the true meaning of Christmas has been lost. We see slogans like "remember the reason for the season"But what does this tell us about the true meaning of Christmas?

I believe that, for Christians, Christmas helps us to be more Christ like. There is something inherently good about Christmas. Like Fred in "A Christmas Carol" I believe Christmas to be a force of good in the world.It seems to be the only time of the year in which people are in a giving mood.It comes naturally in December, not just generosity but compassion.

Now Christmas was celebrated in America before the 1800's, with all respect to Ken Hughes. It was the northern states that refused to celebrate Christmas. Mainly because Puritan preachers and theologians linked the celebration of Christmas with pagan rituals, they taught wrongly.

So what is Christmas all about? What is its true meaning? "For behold I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people" Angels celebrated the birth of Christ saying "glory to God in the highest, and on Earth peace, goodwill to men"This was a sacred moment. The savior was now in the world.A new star was seen in the sky.

Despite pagan symbols, Christmas is not pagan. We celebrate because Christ condenscended to live among us and to show us the way, and to doe for our sins. We celebrate because 2,000 years ago in a manger in Bethlehem it was the beginning of something wonderful.

Christmas makes us better people. We talk of the Christmas spirit, so what do we mean by that? Christ lived his life helping others, and gave a commandment that we love one another. A very simple teaching but one that does wonders. It is a bitter irony of history that in 1914 German and French and British troops held a cease fire on Christmas eve. If people had had the Christmas spirit all the time and not just in December there would have been no need for the truce as there would have been no world war one, or world war two. Christ commanded us to love our neighbor as ourselves, no easy task. But Christmas makes that a little easier. For that reason alone, whether you think it secular or pagan Christmas deserves to be celebrated.

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Email Craig Chamberlain: craig_chamberlain@hotmail.com

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