Cynics may rant about the commercialism of Christmas, but you can quietly build the Kingdom of God in your own home during this unique season.
While the halls are decked with holly, here are a few ways to enlarge your child’s capacity for generosity:
1. Emphasize giving, not getting. As you include your child in plans for shopping or making handmade gifts, emphasize the other person’s joy at opening the gift.
Rather than promoting a message of Christmas means getting a bunch of stuff, prompt your child’s enthusiasm with Won’t it be so fun to see how happy your brother is when he opens this?!
2. Find ways to give to the needy. Look for a program where your child can donate gifts to those who have none, such as Samaritan’s Purse “Operation Shoebox,” a program that allows your family to give to children in third world countries.
Or, if there is a way your son or daughter can personally deliver some of their own toys to children who otherwise wouldn’t have a Christmas, that’s a great way for them to make a personal connection to the idea of giving.
Years ago, our community experienced a major earthquake. Afterwards, the local Red Cross held a drive for toys to give children who had lost theirs in the rubble.
My then three-year-old son gathered a box full of toys for the drive. When we arrived, one of the families in line to receive toys happened to be a family we knew from church.
Danny was able to pass along his toys to his buddy Davey personally, and this really impacted him.
3. Teach where generosity comes from. Generosity is a virtue, and virtues originate in the heart of God.
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“For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son…” (John 3:16) We can’t out-give God, but he likes it when we imitate him with our own generosity.
He likes it when we give lavishly, unselfishly, extravagantly. He likes it when we think of others first, and when we don’t cling tightly to our possessions (which all belong to him anyway).
Here’s the thing: We don’t just give to impress others or feel good about ourselves. We give because we our God’s people, and he is a giver.
And in the giving, we experience a kind of peace and happiness that can’t come from hanging onto our stuff.
Jesus said,
It is more blessed to give than to receive. –Acts 20:25b
As a believer in Jesus, and as one who is raising the next generation, you are called to be counter-cultural.
Where there is greed, you can sow generosity. Where there is materialism, you can point to eternal blessings. Where there is consumerism, you can teach and model freedom from the grip of covetousness.
Your children are seeing and hearing lots of messages around them about what Christmas is all about.
What are they seeing and hearing from you?
