Have you been wrestling with your Christmas budget? Many people are trying to discover how to “do
Christmas” while keeping their spending in check with the financial pressures we all face these days. You may
have heard the annual report on how much it would cost to give all the gifts (not just 12, but all the repeated
gifts) listed in “The Twelve Days of Christmas”. The media will also report on what it will cost the average
Canadian family to have a traditional Christmas dinner. This will be followed by polls stating how much the
average person will spend on gifts this season.
It can be overwhelming to hear these numbers and try to figure out how you will manage to get through the
season while paying your regular bills. The pressure and expectations that we feel, coupled with the financial
realities we face, can make for a rather tense month. I heard someone say, “it’s beginning to cost a lot like
Christmas!” A clever adjustment to the traditional song, and a reflection of the way many people really view the
Christmas process.
Would it help you to know that these things are not actually associated with the true cost of Christmas?
These are just the price tags on the way we choose (or feel pressured) to celebrate. To understand the true
cost of Christmas, we need to look again at what Christmas is about. Christmas is the celebration of the birth of
Christ. It is God sending His Son to live among us, to die for our rebellion against Him, and to rise again to
offer us eternal life. When we remember that Christmas is about the mission Jesus came to accomplish, the
cost becomes clearer.
First, there is the cost to God. Have you ever considered what Christmas cost Him? God sent His Son to
die for us as a sacrifice, the Lamb of God who came to take away the sin of the world. This was motivated by
His love for us even while we were still rebelling against Him. The Bible tells us “But God demonstrates His
own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). God loved us, so He gave
His Son for us. Christmas cost God His Son.
Next, we need to think of what Christmas cost Jesus. Philippians 2:7, 8 says that Jesus humbled Himself,
left His home at the Father’s side and came to live among us as one of us. He humbled Himself and “made
Himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, and being found in human likeness…”. Jesus was born to simple
people, in a borrowed barn, living in poverty and spending His earliest years as a refugee fleeing to Egypt to
escape the murderous plot of King Herod.
As if this weren’t enough, giving up the glory of heaven and the position He rightly deserves, He then
humbled Himself to the point of dying at our hands at the cross for our rebellion. He took our place, becoming
sin for us so that in Him, we could become the righteousness of God (2 Corinthians 5:21). Christmas cost
Jesus His place and His life.
What, then, is the cost to us? First, it costs us nothing. The gift of God is eternal life through Jesus! (Romans
6:23). That’s right, our forgiveness and eternal life is a gift. A gift of God’s grace completely undeserved. All we
must do is receive this gift. John 1:12 tells us “…to all who did receive Him, who believed in His name, He gave
the right to become children of God…”.
Christmas also costs us everything. In order to follow Jesus, we must surrender control of our lives to Him,
deny ourselves, take up our cross daily (“today is about Jesus, not me”), and follow Him (Luke 9:23).
While you think through the cost of your Christmas celebrations this year, be sure to reflect on the true cost
of Christmas. When you pay for a gift, remember what Christmas cost God. When you give gifts motivated by
love, think of God’s great love for you. When you receive a gift, ask yourself if you have truly received God’s
great gift.