Monday, December 21, 2015

Christ Centered Christmas

by Peggy Sue Clark

•  Make a “give list” instead of a list of gifts you’d like to receive.
•  Improve yourself in some way that would be pleasing to the Savior.
•  Make time for quiet reflection and choose uplifting holiday activities instead of marathon shopping.
•  Bear your testimony out loud, either at testimony meeting or to a friend or family member.
•  Read the Christmas story from the Bible (see Luke 2).
•  Repent prayerfully and fully of your sins before taking the sacrament. Think only about the Savior during the sacrament.
•  Write about what you’re doing to make the season meaningful, either in your journal or in a letter to yourself.
•  Watch the First Presidency Christmas Devotional.
•  Team up with your family and be a “Secret Santa” for an individual or a family in your ward.
•  Read the December Church magazines..
•  If your ward or stake is having a Christmas social, invite a less-active member to go with you and your family.
•  Check out videos from your meetinghouse library about the life of the Savior.
•  Listen to beautiful Christmas music. Handel’s Messiah is a great choice.
•  Think of ways your family’s Christmas traditions reinforce your testimony. Focus on those aspects of your celebration.
•  Keep pictures of the Savior throughout his life around the house in places you will see them often.
•  If there are small children in your home or your neighborhood, organize a live Nativity. Invite friends and neighbors. Serve Christmas cookies and hot chocolate as refreshments.