Seven Holiday Ideas To Keep God At The Center Of The Season

We’ve all seen the “Jesus is the reason for the season” merchandise. It sounds good and simple, but the reality of holiday time is much more complicated. Such is enhanced this year by rising prices, the stress many have faced due to unemployment or furlough, and frequent feelings of frustration as our national and global situations grow grim. With tariffs, high costs, and low income, how can we face this holiday season with joy?

The answer: Jesus. Without the competition of gifts, exchanges, money, and holiday stresses, we can sit back and focus on Jesus, Who is the author and finisher of our faith. To many, saying that we keep Jesus front and center sounds simple enough…but somehow, we often fail to stick with our resolution to focus on spiritual things. Here are seven practical holiday ideas that will help keep God at the center of your holiday season.

Christmas tree in the distance — Photo by Mourad Saadi on Unsplash

Celebrate with less

Celebrating with less might seem like a trite suggestion. After all, this is a time of year for luxury and abundance, right? It’s the perfect time of year to both shower and receive gifts, throw big parties…and impress people we don’t like. While all these things might seem desirable, there’s a few reasons why they impede our spiritual focus. Alternate holiday ideas are definitely needed.

First, debt is a very real thing. It doesn’t make sense to spend all year in debt for one holiday, but many do just this. Second, trying to impress other people takes our focus off the things of God. The pursuit of both giving many gifts and receiving them takes time. While some find it enjoyable, most find it overwhelming at some point in the process. Third, being overwhelmed isn’t limited to gift giving. When we have so many things to pursue in a short period of time – shopping, cooking, cleaning, entertaining, attending events, decorating, services, and serving others – it’s easy to find ourselves so busy, we don’t have time for anything else.

There’s nothing that says holiday times must be complicated, stressful, and overwhelming. Setting boundaries and learning to say no are important spiritual principles. Instead of feeding pressure to overspend and overextend, cut holiday celebrations down to affordable and emotionally satisfying limits.

Read and study the Biblical nativity stories

The Biblical Gospels record two different nativity stories – one in Matthew and one in Luke. Luke’s account is far more detailed than Matthew’s. Even though we are accustom to hearing parts of these stories every year, it’s amazing the details we note when we read and study these passages in depth for ourselves.

For a practical holiday idea, divide up the nativity narratives into a few sections and read them over the period of a week. At each sitting, take note of three different things you never noticed in the stories. Also, compare and contrast the two nativity narratives, focusing on the different perspectives offered in different details.

Study Messianic prophecy

Messianic prophecy is a huge topic. Nonetheless, if you believe Christ is an essential part of Christmas, realizing His place in prophecy is central to His birth. Messianic prophecy starts in Genesis 3 and finds its way throughout Scripture, developing a rich history of Christ’s presence through types and shadows in the Old Testament. Whether you enjoy seeing His presence in the ancient Old Testament festivals or predictions of His coming through the prophets, recognizing Jesus’ preexistence throughout the experience of Biblical salvation makes His presence real, even as you prepare to celebrate His first coming again.

Not sure where to start? Focus on these areas:

Birthplace and birth
Life and ministry
Death and resurrection

In addition, the books of Isaiah, Micah, and Zechariah all contain central Messianic prophecies, offering a great starting place for Messianic study.

Attend church regularly

Earlier this year I addressed the issue of skipping church during summer vacation. At holiday time, the temptation to skip church to attend to other things remains very real. As we discussed earlier, being overwhelmed is a real thing this time of year. If you feel the need to skip out on church fellowship for the sake of keeping up with holiday activities, you are too busy. If spirituality is to be a central theme for this time of year, we must keep our spiritual priorities. This includes regular church attendance.

In addition, we shouldn’t be so quick to skip things like prayer, Scripture reading, and spiritual devotions. Our time with God is precious, especially if we desire to seek His face in a deeper way.

Give spiritual gifts

We’ve all experienced the “gimmies” at Christmastime. Our long lists of expensive wants rather than needs don’t shorten when we become adults. If anything, the gifts we expect to receive are often more expensive and elaborate as we get older. What if, instead of buying extensive things, we focused on gifts that attend to our spiritual needs? Some suggestions include:

Bibles (especially in a different translation from what you’re used to)
Spiritual books
Devotional books
Music downloads, subscriptions, CDs, or vinyls
Framed prints containing Bible verses
Throws or blankets with Scripture or prayers as the decoration

Give of your time

Years ago, my mom told me the most valuable thing I had was my time. It’s something we can’t get back once gone and don’t appreciate enough in the long run. That being said, our time is an extremely valuable – and precious – gift to give. Rather than focusing on things, making time to spend with loved ones is something that can transcend this time of year and find its way into our year-round experiences. Some holiday ideas for giving of your time include:

Establish a board game night with family or friends
Host a movie night
Visit shut-ins or nursing home patients
Volunteer your time at a local shelter, soup kitchen, or other community service organization
Volunteer time at church (such as leading a home group or study)
Host a small group church event at your home
Rather than watch TV or internet, host a prayer group

Practice gratitude

It’s almost cliche to say we should focus on the things that “really matter.” It’s also a great irony that we go from Thanksgiving where we are supposed to be thankful to Christmas, where we expect to receive more than we give. The practice of gratitude is deeper than these two things, and transcends holiday time. When we “practice gratitude” it means that we deliberately find things to be grateful for, no matter how we might be feeling.

In our current climate, practicing gratitude is likely a challenge. It’s easy to look around and find ourselves overwhelmed, intimidated, or even angered by current circumstances. The news would have us believe our world is hopeless. If we look closer, however, there are many things for which we can be grateful. Whether you start small and consider the immediate blessings in your life or look bigger to see a world full of friends and helpers, gratitude is one of many excellent holiday ideas to inspire faith and hope.