Christmas: Teaching Gratitude for God’s Gift
Bible Verse
All who call out to the Lord will be saved. (CEV) Romans 10:13
Picture yourself sitting with your family on Christmas morning. Your children are excited to open gifts. As they wait in anticipation, you think back over the past year. Do they receive presents from you because of their hard work? Have they been perfectly good and never caused any trouble? Even if they finish their homework and chores without complaining and never fight with their siblings, you know that your children don’t need to earn their presents. You give gifts to them because you love them.
In the same way, God has given you and your family an undeserved gift that can’t be earned. Christmas is a reminder that all who believe will receive a great big free gift from God. “By grace you have been saved, through faith” (Ephesians 2:8) and “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved” (Romans 10:13). So now what? How do we respond to that gift? How do you teach your children every day to appreciate what God has given them?
During this Christmas season, talk with your children about the gift of salvation and show your gratitude with acts of mercy and kindness.
Gifts of Kindness
- Do a self check and practice grace in your everyday life.
- Find age-appropriate service opportunities, like toy drives, to create a Christmas tradition of giving back to the community. Teach your children the locations of food banks. Model local charitable giving throughout the year to show your children how this helps your community.
- Make Christmas cards with Bible verses like Luke 1:49–50, 2 Corinthians 9:14–15 and Titus 3: 5-6 for friends, family, neighbors, and seniors in your community. You might put together a food basket for a specific family or individual and drop in one of your Christmas cards for a personal touch.
You might look up Bible verses about the love that God models, and how you might show that love to others (Matthew 5:33–34; Mark 12: 30–31; John 15:13; 1 Corinthians 13:3). What other ways can you model love for your children during the Christmas season?
Want to dig deeper? Check out Family Fire's article Spiritual Intimacy: Immanuel Today
Abby Epplett
Abby Epplett works as a park ranger for the National Park
Service at Big Thicket National Preserve in Texas. She recently earned a
Master’s in Museum Education at Tufts University and is a member of
Pleasant Street Christian Reformed Church in Whitinsville, MA.
