Giving More This Christmas Season

During this Advent Season, we are looking at worshiping Christ, spending less, giving more, and loving all. These concepts come from a book called Advent Conspiracy: Can Christmas Still Change the World?

So this week, we are looking at ways to give more during this Christmas season. Last week's topic and this week's topic are held in a holy tension together. How do we spend less, even as we give more? We are challenged to spend less in traditional stores on traditional presents, but we are challenged to give of ourselves to our family and friends.

I first thought that this book would call for us to spend less so that we could give more to charities and other good organizations, but the authors went in a different direction. They aren't discouraging us from giving gifts to family members and friends, but they are challenging us to give intentionally. Our gifts should give our presence, be personal, and be costly to us. Let's take some time to dissect what that means.

Presence: People do not necessarily want more things, but rather our presence. What are ways that we could intentionally carve out time to spend with and on our loved ones? What are activities that you could commit to doing with those you love?

Personal: There are so many gifts coming and going around this season, that we tend to forget what we gave and what we received. Can you name something you received last Christmas? What about something you gave? When we go to a big box store and start adding things to our carts that vaguely remind us of the people on our gift list, we are giving impersonal gifts. When we sit down and think about what we know of each person on our list: their likes, dislikes, hobbies, interests, dreams, wants, and needs, then we are getting ideas for a personal gift.

Costly: I am not talking about a monetarily costly gift, but a personal costly gift. Anyone can go to a store & charge/buy a gift, but it is special & rare to give a gift from yourself that costs your time and energy. This is a risky gift, because not everyone will appreciate the value of this kind of a gift. What can you give to your family & friends that will charge your time or energy instead of your bank account?

So what are ways that you can give more this Christmas season? (Or maybe next Christmas season so you have time to prepare)