With the shopping rush in full speed now in preparation for Christmas Day, are you ever tempted to think, ‘This holiday is costing me a lot of money”? Or perhaps you don’t think about how much money you spend, and blindly rack up credit card bills willy-nilly only to suffer the dreaded one-two punch of receiving those mountainous bills in January and wondering how you’re going to pay them off?

If so, you’re totally NOT celebrating Christmas!

So, before you head off to the mall and prepare to “check off your list,” say a little prayer to remind yourself of the true meaning of Christmas and how to celebrate it properly.

Christmas is not about the money you spend, the expense of a material gift you offer, and whether everyone you love receives a material gift from you.

Christmas is about giving love, showing care, expressing gratitude, honoring God’s good, witnessing to the coming of Christ. These can all be done without spending a single dime. And, to be honest, is probably better done without using a material thing as a superficial substitute.

If you’re like me, though, you still like to give a gift to your most loved ones to show in practical outward ways they are on your mind and you care. But the neat part is that you don’t have to spend more than you can afford. It’s what comes from the heart with the gift that matters most.

Christmas done right, is a time of great moral and spiritual enrichment, a heavenly wealth building time that takes you and your neighbor to a better place in all ways.

Christ never required his followers to take on debt to mammon to follow him to Spirit. I’m not sure what religion that is. Worshipping the gods of consumerism and materialism, I suppose. Sounds like anti-Christ.

So, set yourself up ahead of time for an enriching Christmas this year. Spend within your budget. Enrich your family and friends with prayers of gratitude, love and kindness. They don’t want your things. They want your love. And if they do want your things, well, they have lots of opportunity to learn the true meaning of Christmas too. And you can help them find it!

At the top of your Christmas list of things to give this year, itemize the most important things first: gratitude, love, care, a smile, a hug, a prayer. Look for Christ in your neighbor and honor Christ’s presence with Christly love given in return. This approach will keep you out of debt to the world and in a better place with God.