Decorations

This past weekend, Christmas started to appear in my neighborhood and at my house.  Christmas is my favorite time of year.  I love the decorations, especially the lights; they give me a warm, cozy feeling inside.  I never get tired of the lights.  But is it wrong for a Christian to love the decorations of Christmas?  I know that my focus needs to be on the gift of Emmanuel, God With Us; but is this an “either-or” situation, or can we truly have both?

I am encouraged to remember that the Old Testament is full of stories where God told his people to decorate.  It appears that God also loves decorations!  When God gave David the plans for the temple that Solomon would eventually build, no amount of “decoration” was spared – gold, silver, and many precious stones were to be used.  God expected that the temple built for worshiping him would represent the best of all of the people’s possessions and talents.  But here’s the catch:  the temple’s purpose, with all of its decorations, was to bring attention to God – not to the decorations themselves.  So this is my point of reference for my Christmas decorations: do they help me focus on the gift and the giver and not just the decorations themselves?

When I look at the New Testament, something else catches my attention.  The idea behind decorations shows up in several passages that talk about what types of things Christians should be “putting on” or “clothing” ourselves with.  The apostle Paul was especially fond of this language.  In Romans 13:14 and Galatians 3:27, he tells us to clothe ourselves with Jesus Christ; and Ephesians 6:11 reminds us to prepare ourselves for spiritual battles by putting on the full armor of God.  These are decorations that we need to make sure are in place daily.

But another passage points out several other “decorations” that need to be evident in my life:

“Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience.  Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another.  Forgive as the Lord forgave you.  And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.”  (Colossians 3:12-14)

Decorating my life with these things is a lifelong, step-by-step process.  Sometimes I’m almost fully “clothed”, and other times I struggle.  Fortunately, it’s not all up to me.  The fruit of decorating myself with Jesus Christ and his armor (truth, righteousness, the gospel, faith, salvation, and God’s Word) is the type of decoration mentioned in this Colossians passage – love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23).  When I clothe myself with Christ, the fruit of the Spirit is a natural by-product.  For that I am truly grateful, because decorating can be hard work all by yourself.

As I continue decorating my home for Christmas today, I want to be decorating myself with Jesus Christ – Emmanuel – and focusing on him.  And every day I want to put on the right spiritual clothes and decorations to help me focus even more on what really matters.  Welcome to December, and happy decorating!