The Danger in Coveting a Picture-Perfect Christmas | Your Home For God

A Picture-Perfect Christmas

Whether you scroll through Pinterest, page through a magazine, or see holiday ads, the world’s version of a perfect Christmas is popping up everywhere during the fall and winter months. 

Have a Christ-Centered Christmas in a world of Picture-Perfect Images | Your Home For God
Have a Christ-Centered Christmas in a world of Picture-Perfect Images

While these images are fun to look at and there may be something to be gained in the way of inspiration for your own decorating, cooking, and gift giving, there’s a huge danger in these depictions of Christmas that you need to be aware of.

The key words here are “perfect” and “world’s version.”

Christmas Expectations 

When you’re looking at these images you’re presented with, there’s a real danger that you start to expect your own family Christmas to have the same look and feel, which tends to be focused on the wrong things. 

Setting Myself Up For Disappointment and Emptiness

Coveting and comparing to a magazine-cover Christmas will lead to disappointment and a feeling of emptiness.

The Danger In Having Unrealistic Christmas Expectations | Your Home For God
The Danger in Having Unrealistic Christmas expectations

While we may intellectually know not to strive for the “perfect” Christmas display in a family with young children and pets, we may still subconsciously want it after seeing these images all around us, day after day. We straddle the fence between coveting the picture-perfect image and craving the Christ-centered Christmas. Can we have a little of both?

Images of a Picture-Perfect Christmas Are Everywhere

Which leads me to say, limit your exposure, and your children’s exposure, to the world’s wrong images of what Christmas should look like, unless you want comparison and coveting to take over the hearts of your family. 

Everything perfect all the time is not what the essence of Christmas or the Christian life of following Jesus are really about. Just take a look at the birth of Jesus, which we celebrate at Christmas, for a peek into the Father’s heart at what His ideal was for that first Christmas.

What Should Christmas Look Like? 

The world says that picture-perfect is what we should strive for. We mistakenly think others are achieving that goal, and often feel worthless or insecure, because we can’t, or aren’t trying to, achieve it. Social media adds to the illusion when only the parts that are picture-worthy, and close to perfection, are shared. When we get close enough to people and really know them, we’ll see that there are no perfect people, families, or homes and lives. God is working on the hot mess we all are.  The result of all that coveting and comparison is criticism of others and myself and self-doubt. We know in our hearts it isn’t the reason we celebrate, but we get caught up in it anyway.

We miss the real reason for the season, and a Christ-centered Christmas, while we’re focused on the tinsel and the twinkling lights!

What Should Christmas Look Like | Your Home For God
What should Christmas look like

Christmas Perfection Doesn’t Exist

If we fall into that trap, we miss out on what makes Christmas special. It isn’t about perfection, gourmet food, and color-coordinated ornaments, not that delicious food and beauty in your home are wrong.

Christmas may involve sharing a special time of the year with our loved ones, sharing memories and making new ones.

But, that may be unrealistic, as well, depending on our circumstances at this time. Ask yourself if you are trying to compensate for the lack of love in your family, or extended family, relationships, by making the externals picture-perfect. If memory-making doesn’t happen in our family in a magazine-cover, picture-perfect way, do we try to make it at least look perfect from the outside? Christmas will still happen, whatever it looks like.

Christmas Means Christ (God) Came to Save You

Christmas is really about Jesus Christ coming to this broken, imperfect, hurting world, to save us from our sin!

Baking cookies, giving gifts, singing Christmas songs, hanging lights, sipping hot chocolate, and making more of those beautiful, handmade ornaments with the kids are just ways we commemorate and celebrate.

Christ-mas Means God Came to Save You | Your Home For God
Christ-mas means God/Christ came to Save You

An Imperfect Family’s Christmas Can’t Be Picture-Perfect, But It Can Be Joyful

It’s about being an imperfect family, enjoying the true meaning of what God did in giving us Jesus Christ. We can encourage ourselves and our family to be more thankful, which will definitely improve our celebration of Christ’s birth.

Christmas will be perfect as we celebrate in our own imperfect way, sharing that message of His love and forgiveness with one another and a fallen world. 

Don’t let the idea of what the world says Christmas perfection is take the joy out of Christmas for you.

Yes, go bake some cookies. Hang those construction paper ornaments. Get out all the little decorations that remind you of your childhood. Nestle up on the couch with some hot chocolate and sugar cookies. But, don’t think that you have to have someone else’s perfect Christmas, whatever that is. Christmas is Christ, come to earth to save us from our sins. Celebrate that Good News!

Have a Great Day Making Your Home For God!

Wendy Gunn at Your Home For God helps Christian women raise Godly kids, find & fulfill their purpose and achieve God's goals for their life.

I help Christian moms raise their kids according to Biblical principles, get organized to manage life, achieve their unique God-given goals and dreams, and fulfill God’s purpose for them to make a difference in the world through my workshops, courses, and coaching founded on Biblical principles. You are already successful in many areas. I can help you in those that you’re not. Dream big dreams, and see God transform and use your life in amazing ways! Let’s work together for your success!

In Your Home For God’s Store, discover resources to help you get organized, raise Godly kids, and have the support and encouragement to know who you are, know what God wants you to do to fulfill His purpose for your life, and achieve His unique goals for you!

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