Contentment at Christmas: Choosing Christ, Connection, and a Simpler Season

If I am honest with myself and everyone else, I struggle with this season we are in the middle of. The gift giving, the family gathering, the special meals, are all wonderful, but what is the heart behind it? That is the question I constantly have to ask myself. 

1 Timothy 6:6-8 says “But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that.” (NIV) 

So as I shop for more stuff, I have to ask myself if I am doing so because I am wanting to bless others or is it because of a need for more, more, more? This year my husband and I went through our younger daughters’ room and cleaned things up. They were struggling to clean their room thoroughly, which is a normal thing for kids. It ended up that we got rid of SO much stuff. Things that were no longer used, no longer needed, and even just simply trash. Their room looks nice now, but it really made us think: do they need anything else for the upcoming holiday? Christmas is just around the corner and we WANT to get them gifts, but they don’t need anything! 

We had a family meeting and the concept of contentment came up. Did they want more? Of course! But how much was reasonable? We landed on the number 3. They could pick out and ask for 3 things each for Christmas. Believe it or not, they were surprisingly fine with this concept. We challenged them to really consider what they wanted and make a list of 5 things and we would pick from there. They really had to make some decisions here. 

Going back to that verse in 1 Timothy, I want to think about it. Godliness WITH contentment. Contentment is being happy with or satisfied with what you have. Godliness is a transformation of the heart. It means that we are trying to live a life of righteousness and obedience to God’s word and will. The Bible is telling us that having godliness and contentment at the same time is a special formula. How does one get to that point? And how do we teach our kids to do that as well?

As usual, I want to say that I don’t have all the answers, but I want to offer a few suggestions. These can apply to us as adults as well as either setting an example for our kiddos or directly involving our kids. 

1. Set the tone for the season. What is this season really about? If you make it about Jesus, others, and giving, it is going to be a lot easier to pare back on the getting stuff part. My family looks forward to doing our advent devotionals every night starting December 1. We have chosen to do the Jesse Tree devotionals. We read each story and have a kid friendly discussion about what it means to us each night and hang a special ornament on the tree. As we get closer to Christmas the story gets closer to the birth of Jesus. It becomes about anticipation of the coming of Jesus and less about the gifts under the tree. 

2. Let our kids make gifts instead of buying them. Something homemade takes more thought and time and means more than simply going to the store and spending more money. Granted, you might have to buy supplies to make stuff, but it takes the focus off the “stuff” and puts the focus on the person that is getting the gift. This year we chose to have our girls pick out a piece of pottery to paint and give to their teachers instead of buying another thing that will end up on a shelf getting dusty. They enjoy drawing special pictures for their grandparents and aunts and uncles. Sometimes we will even frame the work to make it a little more special. They also enjoy baking special cookies and breads for others to enjoy. 

3. Limit the gifts. Just like I mentioned earlier, having a discussion with the kids about how much they have and how little they actually need to get went well. They were reasonable in their requests and really might enjoy the process of having new things more because it won’t be so overwhelming. We will make it more about spending time together around the table playing cards and having a meal together. 

What other ideas do you have or practice to make the season more about godliness and contentment? I would love to hear! 

Let’s approach the season of Christmas with the goal of being content and godly instead of getting caught up in feeling like we have to stretch ourselves further than we really need to financially. Let’s normalize giving homemade gifts, inviting others over to enjoy a meal with our family, or even simply spending time together instead of toys and unnecessary items. Let the focus be on love and togetherness. Let the focus be on Christ and His amazing entry into this world as a man so that he could be our savior and messiah. Let the focus be on growing in Him and not growing more bogged down. 

Lord, thank you for the heart behind gift giving. Let us have the mindset of contentment and godliness this season when it is so easy to get distracted by the shiny things of this world. Thank you for what we have and who we have in our lives. Help us to shower those we love in gifts of self and time. Let us feel content with what we have as you have blessed us with so much. Give us the desire to search for you. Amen.