I think we've celebrated Christmas all wrong.
Once a year, we focus on giving to those less fortunate, loving the people around us, and spreading holiday cheer. We're jolly and joyful, giving and receiving, fully aware of the needs around us and our ever-increasing personal wish lists.
But on December 26th, we stop. We countdown to Christmas day with the "25 days of Christmas," and hear messages of giving to charities, however, the day after Christmas, like a light switch we stop caring whether the nonprofit down the street has enough funding to continue to function.
Why is that? I believe we've settled into this unspoken rhythm, a state and cycle of giving when it's convenient to give...and when we're reminded to give; yet when it's not at the fore-front of our minds, we don't often think about words like partnership, giving, investing, and charity.
Jesus wasn't born for a single day. He was born to bring life for all 365 days of the year. I am thankful for that. He doesn't offer me life or hope one day out of the year...he offers it to me continually, day after day, moment after moment.
So, here's my thought: if the point of Christmas is to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ, why do we just celebrate the act of birth? Why don't we celebrate and emulate His life?
If we truly celebrated Jesus' life, we would live it...and that would be a life 24/7/365...not just on 12/25.
Why don't we turn Christmas upside-down....or rather, right-side up?
Rather than focusing on partnering with people during the month of December, what if we partnered with people every day? There are people around us who need Hope, and as a follower of Christ, we have Hope continually with us....so why don't we offer it?
What would our world look like if we made Christmas about more than our wish lists? 800 million people in the world don't have access to safe, clean drinking water, yet we spend $3.4 billion on Christmas. Something is disturbingly wrong with this scenario. I don't know about you, but I don't need another pair of running shoes or another sweater I won't wear...but there are people who NEED water to live.
I want to not only celebrate Christ's birth this Christmas, but I want to live it 365. I want to offer Hope to those around me. I want to give something with my life that last longer than a day. That's why I want to turn Christmas upside-down. Rather than focusing on me, me, me, I want to partner with people and really learn to love and care about those around me.
If you've followed my blog in the past, you know that I gave up my 21st birthday to raise money for charity: water. For Christmas, I'm partnering with charity: water to fight the water crisis again. You can too. Click HERE to give a gift that lasts longer than a day, but literally gives life.
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