You hear it in movies and commercials. Maybe from your family or friends. It’s time to get into the holiday spirit. Where’s your Christmas spirit? It seems as though people expects cheer and happiness from everyone around them as we approach Christmas. I think this expectation comes from the idea that the act of giving brings joy to the giver. No matter where this expectation came from, I tend to see more people upset, frustrated, and stressed around this time of year rather than cheerful and full of joy.
When it comes to giving there should be joy in it. Based on that, one would reason that the season of giving should also be a season full of joy. In case you’ve ever wondered, the act of gift giving was not originally a Christmas tradition, and was even banned by the Catholic Church in the Middle Ages.
Gift giving was common in the Roman celebration of Saturnalia, an ancient festival which took place on December 25 and may have influenced Christmas customs. Christmas gift giving was banned by the Catholic Church in the Middle Ages due to its suspected pagan origins. It was later rationalized by the Church on the basis that it associated St. Nicholas with Christmas, and that gifts of frankincense and myrrh were given to the infant Jesus by the Biblical Magi.
Wikipedia
I get a lot of joy from giving gifts to others, but there are other aspects of giving that have not brought me joy lately. I’m sure that others would agree with me that it is not the act of giving that actually brings joy. There has to be reason behind the giving. I give gifts to my family and friends because I love them. I give money to my church because I am grateful for the spiritual leadership that I find there. This time of year brings about the request of time from me and other church employees around the country. For some reason, this year I have struggled with giving my time more than any other year.
It’s not that I don’t want to give my time, but I think my attitude has been that my time is being taken from me rather than me giving it freely. I don’t know why I have this attitude, and it is resulting in a poor attitude towards specific people. My joy is depleting and I am growing weary. I see others giving just as much or more time than me, and it doesn’t appear to affect them. I’m sure it does in some way, but I don’t see it.
The only way I am going to get back into the Christmas spirit is if I put my focus back on the reason I am giving. It is the love of God that gives me a reason to give. God loved, so He gave His Son. God loves, so I give.
God, please change my attitude and help me to give out of Your love.