By Katie Bennett, Contributing Writer.

I love all the festivities of Christmas, and the Santa legend is a big, magical part of that in our culture.

But, as we know, Christmas is also (mainly?) about Jesus’ birth. Those two holidays seems to stand at odds with each other, vying for our attention. And when it comes to our children, I’m pretty sure Santa is winning.

Have you ever wondered why we celebrate Christmas as we do and where it all came from? 

Honestly, I don’t know that I ever questioned it, although it is a bit confusing.

I hadn’t questioned it, that is, until I recently got a hold of a children’s book called Why Do We Call It Christmas? by the What’s in the Bible? company. (They have some great resources if you haven’t heard of them!)

The book explains, on a child’s level, who St. Nicolas was historically, including the great things he really did during his life and how they translate into the modern Santa traditions we now know.

It also explains how and why Jesus’s birthday came to be celebrated on the same day as St. Nicolas’s Day.

I loved reading this book with my children! It made the holiday make much more sense.

The Truth about St Nicolas

As you might image by the “saint” part, the real St. Nicolas was a Christ-follwer!

He gave gifts secretly and at night to help those in need.

As Jesus himself says in Matthew 6:2-4,

“So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.” (NIV)

Ultimately, from all we know about Saint Nicolas, he wanted Jesus to be glorified through his giving. That is the true and meaningful origin of the Santa tradition we now celebrate.

What a wonderful message of generosity and love to sew into our children’s hearts!

St. Nicolas and Jesus Birth Together

What does this celebration of Saint Nicolas have to do with Jesus’ birth? Well, nothing. 🙂

As Why Do We Call It Christmas? explains, these were originally two separate holidays. One was acknowledged on December 6th, and the other on December 25th.

Somewhere along the way, church authority decided to do away with St. Nicolas Day. But because everyone loved the fun traditions that had evolved, they simply transferred them to Christmas Day. Add centuries to that equation, and here we are today!

However, I do think there are some intentional ways we can tie it all together for our children and families.

1. Start with Care

In our home, we don’t treat Santa as real. We do love pretending though!

However, many parents that I know, love and respect as devoted Christ-followers find total freedom to “do Santa” fully with their young children. They have fun with it and still manage to continually point their little ones back to Jesus throughout the holiday.

But, allowing our children to live a childhood fantasy is probably not our greatest parenting goal, so we must keep all things in their place and proceed with care.

2. Teach the true Saint Nick

Learn about St. Nicolas and teach your children about what he did and why. Showing generosity and love is godly!

Along with that, consider serving the poor at Christmastime, just as St. Nicolas did in his life. There are some easy ways to do this! It could be anything from packing a shoe box for Operation Christmas Child to serving at a local Soup Kitchen.

And you know what’s even better than serving those in need at Christmas? Serving them all year round. 🙂 Because the poor aren’t meant to be an object lesson for our children, they’re meant to be loved as the hands and feet of Jesus.

3. Always bring it back to Jesus

Jesus is Emmanuel. We need to meditate on that and let it undo us this Christmas.

Santa is a cheap, flimsy alternative to the eternal truths at play here. There’s nothing wrong with having fun, but let’s always, always, always bring it back to what real and true and good, not just in this holiday, but in the whole of our existence:

God loved us so much that He sent his only Son to earth to die for us. 

That what matters ultimately for you and your children. Don’t miss that!

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Interested in getting a copy of Why Do We Call It Christmas? for your family? It’s on sale for $12.99 now through Christmas, and you can get free shipping on orders over $25. There is also a DVD. I opted for the book/DVD combo just to check it out and figured I could give one away if that was overkill. 🙂

I’m very pleased with this resource! Find it HERE.

 

How do you make sense of Christmas for your children?