Why Christmas is Special

[JudoMinja]

While I have always felt the Spirit strongly during the Christmas season, I have had difficulty understanding just what makes it so special compared to other holidays. We are celebrating the birth of our Savior, but in my mind a birth seemed like a fairly senseless thing to celebrate. Essentially, my thought process would be something along the lines of- "Yes, Christ is born. That is wonderful, but... he hasn't DONE anything yet." I just could not understand why Easter is not seen as the greater holiday, as here we celebrate the resurrection of Christ and take joy in His life and all that He has done for us.

This same thought process makes it difficult for me to understand why we celebrate birthdays. A celebration should be for an accomplishment, for an act that makes a difference in the world. What makes a birth so special? Every holiday has its foundation, but Christmas has always stood out, because even if it is not your favorite holiday, even if you are not Christian, everyone seems to get caught up in the Christmas Spirit.

I cannot help but be caught up in the joy of the Christmas season. The music, the giving, the charity and kindness, the cocoa, the fire, the nearness of family, etc. Yet, I just could not make any logical sense of what it was that brought on such joy. How is it, that something as simple as a birth could fill everyone with such unending happiness and gratitude?

Today, in church, I finally made some connections that seem to explain what makes Christmas so special. The birth of Christ was symbolic of the gift of the Holy Ghost and vice versa. Christ was sent to guide and direct us, to comfort and heal us. He is the Light of the world. There was no need for the Holy Ghost while Christ was living, because the guidance of the Holy Ghost is merely a substitution for the example of Christ.

The wise men and the shepherds were led to Bethlehem in the way that we should be led to the Spirit. The Holy Ghost is given to us to guide and direct us, to comfort and heal us. When we truly and fully receive the gift of the Holy Ghost into our hearts, we are filled with the love of God. We can feel peace and joy and be guided to choose righteousness. The Holy Ghost helps us recognize truth and falsehood, right and wrong- He helps us use our agency, another gift from God.

When we celebrate the birth of Christ, we are also celebrating the gift of the Holy Ghost. Both offer peace, guidance, understanding, forgiveness, love, healing, etc. Though He had not yet done anything, He had been given to the world to fulfill His mission and make it possible for us to progress. That wonderful feeling that seems to electrify the air during the Christmas season is the joy that comes from His presence and from accepting the Holy Ghost.

To me, at least, Christmas now makes a little more sense. What are other thoughts on this? What, to you, makes Christmas so special? What is it about Christmas that makes it stand out above all other holidays?

[Bini]

I have to be completely honest in answering this. A lot of the joy and excitement I feel during Christmas has a lot to do with how I was brought up. Yes, that's including the whole Santa Claus phenomenon. The idea of waking up to gifts has always been intriguing and exciting to me — even to this day. So I guess, for me, a lot of the Christmas spirit that I possess is largely commercialised. I don't think it's necessarily wrong, given you are grateful for what you have and reach out in charity or otherwise to those around you, and perhaps those that are less fortunate and in darker times. Having said all that, I think if hubby and I were active LDS, we possibly would experience the more spiritual side of Christmas and not just the hustle and bustle Christmas hype you get caught up in.

[beefche]

I think the fact that God Himself condescended to come to this mortal, fallen earth to be born is reason to celebrate. We can get into the philosophical things of "He had to come to receive a body", but ultimately it is His choice to fulfill the Plan of Salvation.

[Last_Daze]

I think the fact that God Himself condescended to come to this mortal, fallen earth to be born is reason to celebrate. We can get into the philosophical things of "He had to come to receive a body", but ultimately it is His choice to fulfill the Plan of Salvation.

Absolutely. It is the very first act in the Atonement of Christ; the atonement doesn't happen if Christ does not take a mortal body. As it is often said: "That which is not assumed is not redeemed." If Christ does not take to himself all of what we are and what we have, then the Atonement would have only limited effect, and we could not be saved. It would not be that "full, perfect and sufficient sacrifice, oblation and satisfaction for the sins of the whole world."

[GADBabaganoosh]

Its a time we celebrate Christ's birth, even if it isn't the time he was actually born. Because of it, we are more caring and Christlike. I'm completely ok with it.

[Justice]

He should have been born in the most luxurious conditions in the most grand of palaces. Mary should have had royalty knocking on her door from all countries of the earth with invitations to come and give birth under their care.

Instead, we know the real story.

It's just so typical of Jesus Christ. He had the knowledge and power to make Himself great among men. But, He chose to make others great.

John 15:13

Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.

Christ laid His life down for even those who illegaly tried Him, who beat Him, who spat on Him, who brutally scourged Him, and for those who drove nails into His hands and feet, and mocked Him as He hung in agony.

To mock Him while in agony for the very sins they committed is the epitomy of irony.

Jopseph Smith was a great man, and he did lay his life down for his freinds. But, even he would not have laid his life down for his enemies.

Nothing or no other person can sustain us.

I don't care that it's in December or June, but I love the time of the year where I am caused to give extra attention to my Savior. It should be a voluntary part of my life to honor Him all year round, not just during one season.

[rameumptom]

Actually, the first act of Christ's atonement would be his acceptance of the role as Savior (Abraham 3). His creating the world, guiding the world through thousands of years of man's existence (and billions of years of creation), are all part of the whole program. God's purpose and man's existence are all to bring about "the immortality and eternal life of man" (Moses 1:39).

Jesus' condescension was extremely important to the ancient Nephites. Nephi saw the condescension of both Father and Son (the Father allowing his son to become mortal and judged of the world; the Son by coming into mortality and suffering the sins of the world). Through Nephi's vision of the Tree of Life, we find that Christ is the fruit of the tree, God's love is shed upon all of us through that fruit.

And Jesus' atonement did not end on the cross. Nor did it end 3 days later at the resurrection. The atonement is ongoing. When we repent, Jesus forgives us NOW for those sins. Through him we are brought back into the presence of the Father.

So, we celebrate the birth of Christ - itself a miraculous event - to honor all that the Christ child did before his birth, all he did in mortality, and all he will do now and into the future.