The most wonderful time of the year, Dec. 25, falls on a Saturday this year. Everyone loves Christmas: the music, the movies, the traditions, the Christmas dinner and, of course, the gifts. According to Capital Counselor, $789.4 billion was spent on Christmas gifts in 2020. For Christmas decorations, $230 was spent in 2020 according to Investopedia, and the most played Christmas song according to “Guinness Book of World Records” was “White Christmas by Bing Crosby. But when you ask different people what part of Christmas stands out to them, the responses are usually things like making Christmas cookies, drinking eggnog, wearing ugly sweaters, indulging in Christmas sales, the Secret Santa parties, or watching Christmas movies. This is all fun and jolly, but one thing that not a lot of people cherish, as much as putting up a Christmas tree, is the birth of Jesus Christ. The importance of Christ isn’t in the holidays as much as it should be anymore, and this article will explain why it has come to that and why we should place Christ back into Christmas.

Society has taken Christ out of a lot of things. And it’s kind of contradictory that “Joy To The World” is sung by both believers and non-believers every year; however, many people still forget the purpose of why the world celebrates this holiday. Most people don’t even see Jesus as the joy of the world anymore. One way to think of it is like putting something in a box, specifically religion (Jesus), and only letting it out during certain times of the year. This is exactly what society does to Jesus, both during and outside the holidays. And sometimes, we don’t even let him “out of the box.” Jesus is the “ultimate sacrifice” and, sadly, the world doesn’t know who the sacrifice is anymore. 

We forget that the “true meaning” of Christmas is Jesus. We don’t talk about how he is the sinless lamb of God, the sacrifice of the world, and that the reason he came was to give life because he is life. 1 John 3:5 states, “And you know that Jesus came to take away our sins, and there is no sin in him.” The world completely excludes Jesus from the holidays. There are nativity scenes at churches and the song “Silent Night,” but what is the point if we forget about him? People have different beliefs, but isn’t he supposed to be the “heart” of the holidays? It is just sad and disappointing that we have replaced the lamb of God with Santa Claus and elves. It is fun to have the idea of Santa, but Jesus is viewed completely differently. So now, when we gather for dinner around the Christmas tree, let’s put Jesus in the center of Christmas again. Instead of going straight to the presents, maybe read Matthew 1 and 2 to remember why he came. Jesus is the light of the world, he is peace and joy and love, so this year read about who he is and tell your friends because that is the real reason for Christmas.