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Q: All our children can think about around Christmas is what they're going to get, and whether or not it's going to be what they wanted. How can we get them to celebrate Christmas in the right way? - Mrs. B.W.
A: I suspect most of us can remember what it was like to look forward with great anticipation to Christmas and wonder what presents we would get - and your children probably won't be any different. But that doesn't mean you should ignore the deeper meaning of Christmas in your family - not at all. Instead, make an effort to teach your children why we give gifts at Christmas. One reason we give gifts (you can tell them) is because the wise men who came hundreds of miles to find the newborn child brought gifts to Him: "They bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold and of incense and of myrrh" (Matthew 2:11). But there is an even greater reason why we give gifts at Christmas: They should remind us of the greatest gift the human race has ever received: the gift of God's own Son. We do not deserve that gift - but God loves us and sent His only Son into the world to provide the gift of salvation for us. This Christmas let us say with the Bible, "Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!" (2 Corinthians 9:15). Take time each day before Christmas to read part of the Christmas story with your family. (You'll find it in the opening chapters of Matthew and Luke.) Then encourage your children to look beyond the gifts they'll be receiving this Christmas, and receive into their lives the greatest gift of all - Jesus Christ.
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