Giving a Gift to Christ for Christmas

One family tradition I started years ago revolves around remembering the true meaning of Christmas. I wanted to keep the meaning of the holiday central in our home, so I created a Gift for Jesus.

The gift is a beautifully decorated box in which slips of paper are placed. Each person in the family writes on a slip of paper what their gift to Jesus will be in the upcoming year. It can be a goal for improvement, a special project for charity, or even an expression of praise and thanks. Very small children may draw a picture or write one word such as 'love' or 'family'. It does not matter what each person chooses for his or her gift. It only matters that it has special meaning to them as a gift to Jesus.

The gift box may be kept out all year or brought out each Sabbath as a reminder. Each year a new gift box may be created or the same one may be added to from year to year. The slips may be kept private (which is what we do) or they may be shared at an appropriate time. The gift is not about competition or keeping score. It is only about giving a gift from the heart.

One year when I had to make a new box, I used baby shower wrapping paper that featured a beautiful baby boy image, tied with simple gold ribbon. The original box was decorated with white paper and gold ribbon. Except for those times when something has happened to our box, we use the same box from year to year.

How you choose to decorate your gift box is entirely up to you. Each year you may want to create a new box in order to give each member of the family a chance to choose how to decorate the box. Another option is for each member of the family to decorate their own box and place all of the boxes under the Christmas tree. The boxes may be then kept year round by the giver in order to help them remember their gift to Jesus.

Whether you take part in a 'Keep the Christ in Christmas' campaign or not, there are many ways you can keep Christ in Christmas in your own home. The Gift for Jesus box is just one option.

The argument may be made that every day of a person's life should be a 'gift to Jesus'. While this is true, Christmas is a very appropriate time to renew that commitment or to begin it. The Gift to Jesus box is merely a symbolic expression of that.