I was chiming in on a friends facebook status post of a blog she wrote (read it here) and thought I'd share it here on my blog too.
I was NOT raised in a Christian home. And was taught to believe in santa and his magical abilities to give gifts 1 night a year. I bought into it completely and in fifth grade got into an argument with a friend who tried to tell me he isn't real. I came home that day from school and questioned my mom "is it true?" To my dismay she confirmed that my friend was right. And then I was told not to say anything to my younger sisters so that I didn't ruin it for them. Talk about disappointment and confusion that I had to keep lying to "bring joy" to my sisters at Christmas time.
Then, at 18 I was saved - committed my life to Christ - through a friend in high school. After the realization that Christ is all we need - I questioned my friend of why santa was so prominent this time of year when Jesus is the real reason we celebrate this holiday. I don't remember her answer at the time, but the more I grew in my faith the more I realized its a tactic of the enemy.
Christ tells us to have child like faith & at such a young age it was so easy for me to buy into santa. So much that I argued that his falseness was true. And then after I learned the truth there was major confusion when I accepted Christ. CONFUSION IS NOT FROM GOD. The whole santa thing is not a harmful story, but the Bible reminds us that he will disguise himself as an angel. Reaching children THROUGH their parents - to take up residence in their mind about the reason we celebrate this time of year is santa. He leads them to believe tts all about being good so that you can get lots of toys = earthly treasures. A good enemy would love to distract you from the Truth so that he can come steal, kill, and destroy.
Really HIS birth is why we celebrate this year - God giving us a Savior - DEFEATING the enemy. We are in the earth, but not OF it.
After learning the truth, I vowed that when I am privileged to have kids of my own that I would not entertain the idea of santa. Kudos to those of you who keep the truth clear this time of year - keep being different.
JESUS is why we celebrate this time of year. :)
I'd love to hear your thoughts, opinions and experiences, so feel free to share!
