Each week includes a discussion
question/point that our parents and their students are encouraged to wrestle
through together. The second week’s discussion
questions read as follows, “As parents
what does your approach to gift-giving at Christmas teach your
children/students about worship? What
does it teach them about contentment?”
Gift-giving is a part the consumerist
culture that surrounds the United States today.
A few days after Thanksgiving this year I was listening to the radio
about a report of the damages done by Hurricane Sandy, which totaled about $20
billion to date. This number astonished
me because of the thought about everything that was lost and the number of
families that were affected. However,
what shocked me even more was that in the next breath, the voice on the radio
began talking about the spending of the United States on “Black Friday” and “Cyber
Monday” this year. Those figures combined
totaled around $59.1 billion that we spent towards Christmas gifts for others
and ourselves. I found myself stopping
and thinking about the message that we are sending to other countries about our
spending but more importantly our children.
As a father, I always want to provide for my children and see them
succeed in life; however what effect does my spending/gift-giving have on their
understanding of worship and contentment?
Hearing these figures caused me to stop and question the message that I
am sending. I understand that I am only
person and while I may not be able to change the attitude of our entire
culture, as that would be one huge battle, I can change the attitude/behavior
of my household.
I was recently having a conversation
with someone in our office about this theme and they told me a story about
their children and something that had assisted in changing the culture in their
home. Their children looked forward to
getting a special gift from their grandparents each year, however about five
years ago the grandparents started to change the trend by purchasing an animal
for a family in need around the world.
They would then give the children a stuffed animal representing the
animal that was purchased. At first, the
children seemed a little discouraged by the gift but after gaining an
understanding of why it was purchased and who it was helping, the attitude
changed. Each year now the children look
forward to seeing what animal they will receive with the hope that one day that
will have every animal that was on the ark with Noah! This change in attitude came from one family’s
decision to move in a different direction than the culture that we find
ourselves surrounded by every day.
So how does this play out in your home
this Christmas season? What does your
approach to gift-giving teach your children/students about worship and
contentment? This past week we
challenged our students to work diligently on finding (or making) that special
gift that would show their parents and siblings just how much they love
them. As soon as the words left my lips
you could see the wheels turning about what they could do and I’m sure that
they will come up with some wonderful things for their families during this
Christmas season. Please understand that
by “spending less” you do not love your family any less but rather seek to
cultivate the relationship you have with them because of the time, energy, and
planning that goes into finding or making that special gift for them.
As for me, I am working on this in my
own home this season to help my children understand that Christmas is about
more than presents. It is about worship of
the birth of our Savior and contentment with what God has blessed us with. Will you join me on this journey to help our
children gain a better understanding of how our gift-giving can reflect an
attitude of worship and contentment this holiday season?
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