VDM150,
you can be a follower of Jesus Christ and still celebrate "christmas". but IF it is going to be honorable to God, one must keep their perspective about it.
i do know that in america we have gotten away from the "spirit" in which christmas "should" be celebrated, turning it into a selfish holiday. so i can see/relate to what you are attempting to say.
God himself DID honor the birth of his son by sending gifts via the 3 wisemen. i guess if someone wanted to use scripture to validate christmas, that would be it. however you are correct that alot of people make it about "presents".
i have been a Christian a long time and for me i made sure that my kids/family kept the proper perspective. i can remember my daughter getting in trouble in kindergarden for telling the other kids that there was no santa. it is not so much that i wanted to rob my children of a fantasy, but more than i desired for them to realize from early on why we celebrated christmas. and more importantly we celebrated christmas everyday. we still will exchange gifts but it is kept to a minimum. i don't fall for the commercialization of christmas, prefering instead on focusing more on the greatfulness that Christ was born for me. i have never really gotten excited about christmas because in my life i celebrate "christmas" everyday.
there is a great scripture that applies here. it is the contrast of how different people look at things differently while attempting to still honor God.
"one man esteems one day alike, while another man esteems everyday alike"
translation; one person places more emphasis than someone else might on any given subject or "day". that is not always the barometer that one has the right perspective while the other one is lost. they are both attempting to arrive at the same destination. toward honoring God.
personal choice...yes
perspective.....if one cares about "Christ" vs presents (yes)
..............................................................V................................................................
now onto more important matters...
you ; "NO I AM NOT A Christine AND YES I DO BY NUMBERS AND THATS WHAT MY DOWNFALL IS TO BECOMING ONE AN IAM WORKING ON THAT BUT I STILL WANT TO HELP THOSE WHO ARN'T"
me ; if you are waiting to follow Christ UNTIL you become "perfect", you will be waiting a loooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooong time. it will NEVER happen. you "come to him" because HE will "clean you up". by that i mean that if there is any "house cleaning" to do in your heart, only he can do it. people have this all backwards as if God will not accept them until they clean up thier act. the truth is that we can't. and the greater truth is that if we could, we would not have a need for Christ in the first place. we could do it ourselves. so come today. you will be wasting precious time thinking that someday you will be more "presentable" to God. God loves and accepts you today if you give him that chance. our perfection isn't the key while his is ! come to him today and if there is something that he is not pleased with that you are involved in, HE will let you know and HE will give you the strength to stop. first things first. God........then..........you
hope your "days" are blessed (and i mean everyday, not just "christmas")
everydayisjustasimportantasthenextintheexecutionofthevision