10 Commandments for Christmas (Part Five)
How can we apply the 9th and 10th Commandments to our busy American Christmas season? Let’s see.
Commandment 9: Don’t lie
This is a hard one because it involves, among other things, humility. Often we are expected to buy and exchange gifts that we can’t afford, or we are invited to a multitude of parties and holiday get-togethers that would keep us from family time.
Sometimes we just have to be honest and tell the party hostess or those who expect gifts that we can’t afford the expense or time. I’ve come to recognize that telling the truth is more important that living a holiday lie.
Commandment 10: Do not covet
Finally, I came to an easy commandment to apply to the holidays. There will always be others who get more, do more, have more. We must be content with what we have and not covet what others have.
So I want to apply the Ten Commandments to my Christmas and celebrate this wonderful season in a way that honors the Christ Child. Join me, will you?
10 Commandments for Christmas (Part Four)
How can we apply the 7th and 8th Commandments to our busy American Christmas season? Let’s see.
Commandment 7: Don’t commit adultery
Really? At first, it was a mystery for me to know how to apply this commandment to Christmas. Of course I’m not going to commit adultery! So how could I fit this into my 21st century holidays? After thinking about it awhile, it struck me, and hard.
Though we may not be physically unfaithful, how often do we entertain a “mistress” of shopping or busyness instead of spending quality time with our spouses? Too often our marriages get put on the back burner during the busy holiday season, and we forget to take the time to nurture our most precious relationship. Yet the gift of our mate should be one of the greatest reasons to celebrate the season. So during the holidays, my husband and I make sure to have special time set aside that focuses on our marriage.
Commandment 8: Don’t steal
Okay, this commandment was a tad easier to understand. I won’t steal the cologne I want to give my husband or the pretty doll I plan to give my granddaughter. Duh!
But how often to we “rob Peter to pay Paul” when we put gifts on credit or buy things that aren’t in our budget. When we can’t pay off our credit cards in January, or we don’t know where the money will come from to stay on budget after the Christmas presents are opened, are we not stealing from God’s provision for us?
Understanding this helped us create a reasonable holiday budget. I even shop during the year. Because my granddaughters live in South Africa, I just finished my holiday shopping for them—a whole new wardrobe of summer clothes at a fraction of the cost for just one outfit not on sale! Our motto has become: Don’t rob Peter to pay Paul.
10 Commandments for Christmas (Part Three)
How can we apply the 5th and 6th Commandments to our busy American Christmas season? Let’s see.
Commandment 5: Honor your mother and father
In a culture that often dishonors parents, how can we teach honor to our children, and how does it apply to Christmas? I had to think long and hard about how I could especially honor my parents at Christmas. For me, I had to make their gift choices an extra special priority.
For others, I could speed my shopping cart through the holiday gift aisle and check them off my list pretty quickly and effortlessly. But for my parents, I decided to take the time and effort to really ponder what would bless them, what would be meaningful to them. I even prayed about it.
For many years, especially when the children were small, a handmade photo album, a personal poem, or framed children’s drawings were the perfect gifts. Last year, I collected digital photos from my siblings and downloaded nearly 700 of them on a digital photo frame. Whatever the present might be, it’s important to honor your parents with a special gift, and teach your children that their grandparents—as well as you, their parents—should be honored in a special way.
Commandment 6: Don’t murder (i.e. respect life)
This commandment was puzzling. How does “don’t murder” fit into the holiday season? Of course we won’t murder, but how can we respect life and teach our children to apply this commandment at Christmas?
Showing that we care for “the least of these” is a practical way to respect life and fulfill this commandment. Whether providing groceries for a family in need, serving in a soup kitchen, handing a PB&J to a homeless person, or giving a gift through Operation Christmas Child or the like, there are lots of ways to show respect for other people’s lives. My husband and I serve as bell ringers for the Salvation Army every year, and watching parents coach their children to drop change into the kettle is one of the joys of our holiday season.
10 Commandments for Christmas (Part Two)
How can we apply the 3rd and 4th Commandments to our busy American Christmas season? Let’s see.
Commandment 3: Don’t misuse God’s name
It’s easy to sing Christmas carols and not even notice what we are singing. The meaning of many of our carols is so full of the truth of God’s amazing gift to our world, and yet we often allow them to be like elevator music to us.
Truth is, it’s not just cursing that abuses His name. Many Christmas songs, sayings, and marketing methods ignore, belittle, or carelessly reflect this holy holiday season. These can misuse God’s name, too.
So when I give a Christmas greeting, I try to reflect an attitude of reverence and respect that He alone deserves. And when I listen to or sing a carol such as “Oh Holy Night” or “Away in the Manger”, I take a moment to bow my heart and worship the One who came that holy night. But here’s a warning: always carry a tissue. There have been times when I’ve come to tears in the middle of the mall as God has met me through the words of a carol or holiday song, and I suspect He may do the same with you.
Commandment 4: Keep the Sabbath Holy
When I was a child, it was so much easier to honor the Sabbath since the shops and activities were closed on Sundays and on Christmas. Today, things have changed, and it’s tempting to get your shopping done, go to a movie, or wash your car on a Sunday afternoon. It’s even easy to skip church because there’s a ball game, a practice, or some event that you don’t want to miss.
Yet we have the opportunity to teach our children what it means to keep the Sabbath—and Christmas—holy by choosing how we will order our days. I’ve learned that it’s as simple as scheduling—or not scheduling—events, chores, etc., on days other than Sundays. It’s tempting to sacrifice a family meal for a trip to the mall, but if we make it a priority to keep the Sabbath holy, our children and those around us, will see that holy moments matter in our every day lives.
10 Commandments for Christmas (Part One)
Recently I’ve been studying the Ten Commandments and trying to apply them to my 21st century world. Yet as the holidays approached, I faced with a whole new set of decisions. How could I apply the Ten Commandments to my busy American Christmas season? For the next few weeks, we’ll explore the 10 commandments from the perspective of Christmas. I hope it’s an inspiring journey.
Commandment 1: Worship God alone
On the surface, this seemed obvious. Believers don’t worship other things, do they? Yet as I looked at my life and the lives of those around me (mostly believers, by the way), I wondered if the saying, “Jesus is the Reason for the Season” is really true for many of us. We get so busy with holiday plans, parties, and projects that we often forget to rejoice in the profound truth that the God of the heavens came down to earth…for us!
When my children were young, we had little money for our holiday endeavors, so we kept things much simpler. Besides, I tried hard to be intentional about imparting the true meaning of Christmas to them. So each evening of Advent we centered our hearts on the coming of the Savior. We gathered in front of the manger and talked about His birth. We took time to worship God.
But after they left the nest, it was all too easy to get caught up in the festivities and forget to worship the Prince of Peace. I realized that it simply takes intentionality to pull away from the holiday chaos and take some time to worship Him every day. Since then, I’ve tried to make this an important cornerstone of my Christmas season.
Commandment 2: Don’t make idols
Of course we wouldn’t make idols! we all think with an heir of dignity and pride. But how do we address Santa and all the secular symbols so pervasive in our world today? The topic of Santa can be controversial, and every family must decide how they are going to handle such Christmas traditions. Yet as believers we should never let Santa become more of a focus than the Babe in the manger.
When my children were young, I went a little overboard. Because my parents placed such importance on Santa coming, even to the point of stomping around the attic as if it were Santa on the roof, I went to the opposite extreme and forbade any reflection of the man in the red suit. As my children grew and I saw how other families made Santa a fun tradition yet still kept Christ in Christmas, I relaxed my legalistic attitude and allowed some Santa into our holidays. But I tried to keep it all in a proper perspective, so that the posture of my heart would always keep secular symbols from becoming idols.
The Next Big Thing Blog Hop
I am interrupting the regularly scheduled blog to participate in a “blog tour”. So guess what? You’ll get two blogs today. Enjoy!
This “tour” is similar to a chain letter (gasp!) for those who like to know more about the behind-the-scenes details of a book. Julie Carobini answered questions about her book last week, and today it’s my turn.
I hope you enjoy this little holiday distraction. And next week? Four of my writer friends will share about their books on Wednesday, December 17th. (I’ll provide you links.)
Here’s the scoop:
What is/was the working title of your book?
We originally titled our book, Countdown for Second-Marriage Couples, but that left out those who have been married more than twice. So the editorial team suggested The ReMarriage Adventure, and we loved it!
Where did the idea come from for the book?
Our first book, Countdown for Couples, focused on first marriages. But because the failure rate for remarriage is even nearly 75 percent, our goal in writing this book was to help lower that rate significantly by preparing couples for the adventure of remarriage.
What genre does your book fall under?
Non-fiction: Marriage
What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?
Remarrying couples are looking for real answers to help them build successful marriages that last a lifetime. This easy-to-use premarital guide will help individuals, couples, pastors, counselors, small groups, or premarital classes prepare for the adventure of remarriage. (Oops, that was two.)
Will your book be self-published, traditionally published, or represented by an agency?
The ReMarriage Adventure was published by Tyndale and Focus on the Family, just like our first book, Countdown for Couples.
How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?
Dale and I had so much fun that it only took about three months to get it done.
What other books would you compare this book to within your genre?
I’m honored that Ron Deal endorsed The ReMarriage Adventure, because it’s sort of a companion to his The Smart Stepfamily. While Ron’s book focuses on the kids, our book is primarily about the remarriage relationship. So between the two, any remarrying couple would find a wealth of information to get their blending family off to a great start.
Who or What inspired you to write this book?
One of the reasons our first marriages failed is that we didn’t have a premarital guide to help us prepare. That inspired us to write our first book, Countdown for Couples, and now our second book, The ReMarriage Adventure. Both of these are, in essence, premarital counseling in a book!
What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest?
The true value of reading The ReMarriage Adventure, is that it’s a roadmap for success. It combines spiritual principles and practical strategies to empower couples to succeed in their remarriage. We concentrate on making a remarriage really strong because marriage is the foundation of the family, and your family can only be as strong and healthy as your relationship as a couple!
Thanks for reading! Next Wednesday, please visit the following writer friends who will share the inside scoop about their own books. Feel free to hop over there now, but don’t worry, I’ll remind you again next week. Thanks!