Chosen Generation
 
By: LaToya Groover

I must say, Christmas has always been my favorite holiday. Listening to Christmas music, wrapping gifts, coming together with family, a week or two off of school, and the list goes on. But as I grow and mature, I can appreciate the true meaning of this holiday. People are constantly saying, “Jesus is the reason for the season,” but how many really take the time to celebrate the true meaning of this holiday.


Now, some people may call my sister and I spoiled. We have always been given the best. But the gifts that our parents sacrificed to give us over the years are not what have brought us to where we are now. It’s the times that our father read us the story of the birth of Christ that gave us the faith to know that the Messiah was implanted into Mary during this season to achieve a calling far greater than any that we could ever achieve. Or the countless lessons that our mother taught us, and many other children, in children’s church that showed that Jesus was born so that we could live.

I was reading a devotional the other day about a mother that was trying to teach her family to truly value the deeper meaning of Christmas. She removed the baby Jesus from the nativity scene on display in their home and wrapped him up and placed him in a small box. She spoke of the discussion that it sparked amongst her family, and how they were better able to genuinely value the meaning of Christmas with just a name on a sheet of paper. Just reading that devotion nearly brought me to tears as I thought about how I would just tear into boxes on Christmas Day without giving a single thought to the true reason that there was a tree in our living room with gifts all around its base. The decorations and gifts became more of a reason to celebrate than the fact that Jesus was born to save us from ourselves. I gained a new appreciation for the statement, “Jesus is the reason for the season.”

So, if I never receive another materialistic gift, I’ll be absolutely fine. I am satisfied just knowing that in a little town called Bethlehem, there was a little baby wrapped in swaddling clothes, and lying in a manger thousands of years ago, just so that I could be blessed and in turn be a blessing. I am not devaluing all the beautiful music and décor that makes this holiday so beautiful. I’m just encouraging those who will to take a moment to thank God for the chance to give to each other in minimal comparison to the gift that He gave us.