What does it mean to me to keep Christ in Christmas?

1. Be Generous. I think this is one of the easier ones to remember at this time, though I think we can get caught in the trap of equating generosity with monetary or physical gift giving, when we can all be generous, regardless of our financial situations. Most of us have time to give to serve another. We can open our home to spend an evening with friends. We can donate an unused toy or piece of clothing to someone who doesn't have as much. We can be generous with our smiles, with our patience and with our love.

2. Tell the Truth. The amount of speculation, half-truths and downright lies about what people are doing to Christmas is just astounding. Aside from it being just bad form to spread untruths, these kinds of things can stir up anger and hatred toward our fellow humans. If something seems like a particularly egregious offense, take a minute and see if it's true before passing it on.

3. Laying Down Offenses. The Bible talks quite a bit about choosing to put others in front of ourselves. If I choose to get all worked up because a minimum wage worker at CVS tells me "Happy Holidays" or that a corporation sells "holiday trees," I'm choosing offense over love. Philippians 2:1-11 is one of my all-time most favorite passages of Scripture and I think that it speaks to this pretty strongly. When I keep Christ in Christmas, stupid stuff like a happy greeting that isn't worded the exact way I want shouldn't incite me to behave like a jerk.

What are some ways that you can keep Christ in Christmas?