Why We Ultimately Let Go of Christmas

Letting go of Christmas was not an easy decision.

It wasn’t something that happened overnight.

Christmas had always been part of our lives, and it carried so many memories.

But as we continued praying and studying, the conviction grew stronger.

Another thing we began noticing was the burden that often came along with the season.

The financial pressure of buying gifts.
The credit card bills that followed.
The work of decorating the house, hosting gatherings, cleaning everything afterward, and then packing it all away again once the season ended.

At one point I realized I had four or five large boxes filled with Christmas decorations and ornaments.

Eventually, after much prayer, we made the decision.

We were going to stop celebrating Christmas.

What we didn’t expect was how difficult that decision would be to explain to others.

When we shared it with people, the reactions were strong.

Some people said things like,

“Oh, so now you want to be Jewish?”

Others were confused or even hurt.

Over time, Christmas had become so closely associated with Jesus that stepping away from it made some people feel like we were stepping away from Christ.

But that was never our intention.

In fact, the opposite was true.

We were trying to follow Him more honestly by asking whether the things we practiced were actually rooted in Scripture.

One of the hardest moments came when I called my sister-in-law.

I asked her, “Do you want some Christmas decorations?”

At first she was excited. Most people assume someone is simply updating their decorations or getting rid of a few items.

But then she paused and asked,

“Wait… why are you getting rid of everything?”

So I explained the journey we had been on — the research, the prayer, and the conviction that had grown in our hearts.

That conversation ended up planting seeds in her heart as well.

In the end, we gave away the decorations, closed that chapter of our lives, and quietly stepped into a different way of observing the seasons of faith.

For us, that was the end of our Christmas season.

But it was also the beginning of a much deeper question we would continue asking throughout our journey:

Are we doing this because it’s tradition… or because it’s truly rooted in God’s Word?

iamgesher

All Author Posts