But we are Christians, and we are not to have the “spirit of Christmas.” Rather, we have the Spirit of God. When we assume that the spirit of Christmas has a power it in fact does not have, we are setting ourselves up for various holiday familial disasters. The sentimentalism of Dickens is part of the reason so many families have collisions and quarrels during the holidays, because it’s assumed the time of year, the snowfall, or the decorations have the power to make your brother less selfish and your uncle less boorish. But Christmas in itself is not a means of grace. It’s a holiday to be celebrated in the Spirit but is not a substitue for the Spirit.
This is why Christmas, by itself, will not keep one’s grandfather from losing him temper, one’s mother from being manipulative, or the children from being selfish and greedy, but for the person who expected it to, the whole thing is a great letdown. To anticipate that the spirit of the season, the Christmas tree in the living room, and the decorations at the mall might make everyone righteous is to ask from an earthly thing what only the Holy Spirit can do.
- Doug Wilson, My Life for Yours
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