Why Our Family Stopped Celebrating Easter

By this point in our journey, we had been learning about and observing the biblical feasts for several years. Through them, we were discovering a different rhythm for remembering God’s story.

We also understood that these appointed times were given to Israel and remain part of living Jewish faith and practice. Our Christian family was approaching them as learners, not claiming a Jewish identity or treating our adaptations as replacements for Jewish observance.

Letting Go Carefully

Slowly and carefully, we stepped away from Easter as well.

It was not easy. Our children had grown up with these traditions. By then they were older, and some had already started families of their own. Practices we once shared had become part of their family memories too.

Some of our children still celebrate Easter today. We love and respect them, and we honor their responsibility to make thoughtful decisions for their own homes. Our family members do not need to reach identical conclusions for us to remain close or to share faith in Jesus.

Letting go did not require us to dismiss the meaningful moments we had shared. The gatherings, children’s laughter, and time with family were real gifts. We were simply recognizing that our convictions and practices had changed.

Following Conviction, Not Condemnation

For us, this was not about declaring that everyone else was wrong. It was about responding to the conviction we believed the Lord had placed on our hearts.

We were not rejecting Jesus or His resurrection. The Gospel accounts and 1 Corinthians 15 make the resurrection essential to Christian faith. What we were reconsidering was our annual holiday practice—the combination of worship, cultural customs, and family traditions that we had known as Easter.

Our research also taught us to avoid simplistic origin stories. Christian commemoration of the resurrection is ancient, while customs such as decorated eggs, the Easter hare or bunny, baskets, and egg hunts developed through different cultures and historical periods. Our decision did not depend on proving that every custom came from one pagan source.

Instead, we asked whether we could continue those traditions with a clear conscience and whether they helped our family express what we believed. After prayer, study, and many conversations, our answer became clear.

Other Christians sincerely commemorate the resurrection at Easter, Resurrection Sunday, or Pascha. We can respect their worship without abandoning our own conviction, and we hope they can extend that same grace to us.

So Easter quietly became another tradition our family chose to release.

What We Found Instead

What surprised us most was that we did not stop celebrating.

Our celebrations changed.

We began learning more about the appointed times described in Scripture and the Jewish contexts that have carried their observance across generations. We read together, shared meals, studied biblical passages, and created family practices that reflected our Christian faith.

We tried to name those practices honestly. They were our family’s Christian adaptations, shaped by what we were learning—not claims that we had recreated Jewish observance or discovered a more faithful path for every believer.

The change created room for deeper study and meaningful time together. It also taught us that conviction does not have to create separation. We could choose a different rhythm while continuing to love relatives and friends whose traditions remained different from ours.

Step by step, we released what we believed God was asking our family to release and received what He was placing before us. The resurrection remained central. Our calendar and customs simply changed.

How can we honor a personal conviction without turning it into a judgment of someone else?

iamgesher

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