Amen sister! We have been on a 15 year journey, trying to unlearn the deception from our past. We told the kids the truth about Santa and Halloween and the Easter bunny. And that let us into the most beautiful celebration of the biblical feast days. And in the last five years, all of our holidays means so much more to us now and are rooted deeply in the Bible, and also commanded by our father in heaven. It has truly changed our lives.
When my kids were small, we did basically the same thing. We opened gifts on Christmas Eve. Then on Christmas Day, we had a birthday cake for Jesus, sang Happy Birthday to Him & then we talked about gifts we could give Jesus: our love, our lives, our trust etc.
Hey Momma's! I personally felt convicted about not lying to my children about Santa. I don't personally know any other Christian families that don't "do santa" and we live in a very Christian area and my kids go to a Christian school. It's not always easy but this conviction is so strong for me that it is worth it. My husband said, when he was told by a friend that santa wasn't real as a child, that he didn't believe it was possible that his parents would have lied to him about that. When they admitted it, he questioned if everything they told him about God and Jesus was real. In my experience, I thought putting out cookies and milk for Santa, and waiting for him to come in the night and open these magical presents in the morning was thee best part of Christmas. The sad part is that, there aren't very many of those years... I want my children to grow up learning the true magic of Christmas being about Jesus's birth - and that will never fade and never be stolen away from them. We still celebrate by giving thoughtful gifts to each other, in remembrance of the best gift of all time - Jesus! But we do not have Santa books, Santa decorations etc. It's not about him at all. Of course we live in the world so the kids have seen things about Santa and we just explain that it is a fun pretend story ( sometimes throw in a little bit of the history of Saint Nicholas aswell) But that Santa is a character, much like Mickey Mouse. And we don't go out of our way to introduce Santa material. I truly wish you all the very best of luck. It's so sad and unfortunate that this character is used to take the glory and excitement away from Jesus. But it's no surprise... I pray for all of us this year and in the years to follow. We all have made big mistakes whether about this or something else in parenting - God will use it all and God can redeem it all. I also understand that the Spirit gives us all different convictions. Praise be to God. May His Will be done! Thank you for bringing up this topic for thoughts and discussion.
When I was very young, my mom became saved and began making changes in her life based on what she felt convicted about. One of the things she felt led to share with my sisters and me was the truth about Santa. She told us in the most beautiful way, one that I later used with my own girls. She said something like this, “Girls, I’ve been wanting to share with you the real story behind Santa. Every year, and not always, your dad decides to save a little extra money, which God has blessed him with, so that he can buy special gifts for you. So, while Santa isn’t real, your daddy is the one who uses the blessings God gives him to make these gifts happen.” My mom says that, in that moment, we all turned to our dad, ran to him, and hugged him tightly, saying, “Santa Daddy!!😂!” We were so full of joy and gratitude, knowing that God’s provision was behind all of it.😊 As the years have passed, we’re still learning and growing. We still enjoy putting up decorations around the house-lights, little knick-knacks, and all the fun holiday trimmings. But we always remind ourselves that these are just decorations-nothing more, nothing with real value. Above all, we prioritize Jesus, who is the true reason for the season and the most important of all.❤ Just wanted to share my own experience 😊
I felt convicted by this also so I researched and found out he actually was a man who delivered presents to kids so I went with that also :) Thanks for sharing !
That is such a beautiful way to handle it. ❤ God bless you for addressing this and walking gracefully through it. I think that this is such a struggle for so many Christian families. And this is such a new concept to so many Christians with so many moving parts. Like family members, school friends, etc etc etc. My hubby and I are empty nesters now but when our kids were little we struggled because we both came to the marriage from different traditions. So this became a struggle to figure out “our family’s way” of doing things and how to navigate not hurting other family members’s feelings. But good communication, sharing our convictions with each other and then forming a plan was so helpful. Those convictions also got stronger as we journeyed along our Christian walk. So changes continued. After studying through the Old Testament we now celebrate the Biblical holidays like Feast of Tabernacles and Passover but do a small celebration with family to respect our parents and family for Christmas and Easter. Thank you for this beautiful video and talk through a hard subject. Welcome to the family of Christ. ❤
Please never stop celebrating Christmas! Its most appropriate to celebrate Christ's birthday (the date does not matter) & its very right to make it a big deal & special for your family. It's holy unto the Lord, really! But its good you told your son the truth about Santa & that he's not real, except the real St. Nicholas was of course. Its all very good, everything you're doing, praise God! And I've been saved for 44 years, since I was 6. And my parents & grandparents too. Praise God!
I’m very proud of you my dear sister in Christ! I was raised this way; my parents made that clear that Jesus was the King and Santa a fairytale and we didn’t put our attention on him. Can you please pray for me… I struggle with negative intrusive thoughts a lot these days. Each time I feel bad about something, I hear myself in my head saying that I’m ugly, stupid, unworthy… I am suffering 😔 I pray and I keep repeating myself my true identity in Christ but I feel like it’s a battle in my heart 😣
You are loved, I will pray fo you!❤ Try to ask Jesus to make you see yourself as He does. And also to handle mistakes as He would. Try saying “no, that’s not true. I know the truth is that I am valued beyond measure, even if I make mistakes” every time a negative though comes. Shortly, try talking back to these thoughts with truth. The more you practice, the less these thoughts will come. And also the easier it will be for your brain to produce postive reactions.
I have some days like that too. 😢. In addition to praying I like to wear something that makes me feel pretty. I like to do some self care and I usually feel a bit better.
I gave my life to Christ in 2018, it wasn't until the following year I felt the heaviness of the conviction of santa & the other mythical things we tell our children. I have one child who was 4 at the time. The closer I got to Christ the more of the conviction and I seen how the world has taken CHRIST out of Christmas and replaced it with this other fellow. The things we tell our children about santa is the same things we tell them about Christ. The all knowing, he sees you if your bad and good. Being everywhere at once... I knew that I couldn't raise my child in that way. I couldn't lie and deceive. Also I couldn't take away God's glory. He deserves all the praise not a mythical man. Every good and perfect gift comes from the father above. God provides everything we need as His children. So the past 4 years we haven't had any santa in this household. We celebrate our saviour coming to earth as a baby, who gave us the Best gift of all. Praising Him and glorified Him alone. 🙏🙏
My child also knows not to tell other children as it's their parents job, also my child has thanked me for not lying to them. I believe the Joy of Jesus and the Christmas period will always be a happy period as it's been a foundation from a young age. Knowing the truth of Christ and the sacrifice He did for us. Giving us eternal life is the ultimate gift ❤
We have always done Santa as my children are in school so Father Christmas is all around them. But we have never made it a big thing . Father Christmas has always brought a small gift and it is family who bring all the lovely gifts that they get. It’s a hard balance to not over do Father Christmas as it’s not the reason for Christmas, but also I would be so sad if they thought Father Christmas doesn’t come because they weren’t good enough. I love the way you handled it by telling the truth but also keeping it fun
Hi Anna, thank you so much for sharing this! I am a newbie Christian myself of only 1 month so you've got me beat there haha! 😆 I, too, have felt convicted about Santa for this Christmas, and I'm so grateful that my husband has ended up agreeing with me, so we are on the same page now. Our kids are still a little too young to really understand who Santa is anyways, but we are going to tell them basically the same thing that you told your son. I also have felt convicted about a North Pole village set that I've set up for a number of years now, and I feel like I would much rather sell the village set and replace it with a beautiful manger set to celebrate Jesus :) ALSO: I wanted you to know that your videos were an inspiration to me to start reading my Bible and then a few months later fully give my life to Christ ❤
I love the idea of replacing it with the manger! I’ve been looking for one myself. I really want to bring out baby Jesus on Christmas morning! What a blessing for you to tell me this 🥹♥️ it really made me emotional today. PRAISE THE LORD GOD ALMIGHTY for His love!! RUclips can be such a discouraging and unkind place to be. Hearing this makes it all worth it. Welcome home, sweet sister.
I’ve been on my own very funny journey for the past ten years flip flopping on how I want to approach Santa with my kids. Whatever people do, I like how you emphasized not getting rid of all magic and wonder. Children NEED that whether we use Santa as an instrument or not. I might not 100% see it all the same as you, but I think you’ve done an amazing job at striking a balance for how you handle it for your family out of a spirit led decision. Sometimes new Believers have a great perspective to offer that isn’t as heavily influenced as those of us with more of a religious past. I appreciated that and took away ideas to use. Thanks for posting.
Personally, we teach about St Nick to our young kids and tell them St Nick/Santa Claus comes to our house early on Dec 5th/6th to use his gospel driven generosity to give them their Christmas pajamas and advent books to help them get ready and excited for celebrating Jesus the Savior’s birth.
I would love some tips on how to explain religion to children. We are going to start going to church soon and I don’t know how to speak to a 5yr old about religion. She just found out about death so the Jesus details are a lot to explain lol. Also how I should handle that I am exploring church and Christianity more but my husband is still hesitant in actually going to church. We are both very introverted and the social aspect of church is overwhelming. I hope someone understands this 😂
Religion isn’t a topic I think 5 year olds need to worry about 😅 you could tell them you love Jesus and going to church is something you guys are now starting to do because you want to learn more about this Jesus you love so much. (And want to make friends with people that also love Jesus) also I think teaching her the gospel won’t be as drastic as you think. She will grab what she needs and then as she ages she’ll learn more. From you and through going to church. Kiddos are pretty resilient they adapt quickly.
The hubby topic on the other hand. I’m actually in the same boat lol. We’ve been believers for a lot longer and for me growing up church was really emphasized as important in my household where as for him it wasn’t. I don’t believe going to church makes one more holy but I do believe it’s good for us as believers for many reasons. Last Sunday I went (we had recently been going together until about 6 weeks ago) and then he stopped showing interest. Anyways long story short. I’m gonna go alone (which I didn’t want to) and instead if bugging him I’m going to invite him along and if he says not that’s it I’m dropping the subject. God can do the work in his heart. No amount of explaining complaining or emotion is going to get my hubby into church.
Last note haha I’m not an introvert and church can still be overwhelming. With all the socializing. I will say this. The more you go and push yourself to engage and be a little uncomfortable (ie. like standing in the entrance without your phone in your hand and being okay with people noticing you are alone ) the quicker things get less stressful. If you’ve found a good church people are welcoming and quickly become like an extension of your family (and no I’m not someone that has been at the same church for years. I’ve moved around a lot and have had to redo this process quite a few times lol) give it time and show people grace. Also show yourself grace. Going to a new place especially church where people can be quite tight knit can be overwhelming.
I wouldn’t worry so much about the religion aspect. When I introduced God to my son I simply told Him that was who made him and everything beautiful that we see! Naturally, watching through example he has blossomed into such a sweet innocent relationship with the Lord. Don’t worry, the Holy Spirit will do all the heavy lifting ♥️
I think that is ok to start your only family traditions after marriage and kids, or even if a person is single. As an adult, I believe people should celebrate the holidays their way. The overwhelming spending around Christmas 🎄 stresses me out. I prefer to focus on a special meal 🥘 and charity.
The trouble with this is where does it end ? Because I feel convicted on transformers and avengers but not Santa. I recently removed all transformers out of my son’s room and donated half of them and he sleeps so much better now. Ie. not feeling frightened, he even said his room feels like it’s full of light now and no longer has darkness in it. He is 7 years old. If we are idolising samta then what else are our kids idolising ? Spiderman ? Transformers? What is worse ? A demonic brand that promotes witchcraft, violence, magic ect or a present giving man to celebrate the birth of Christ ?
It’s tough because we live in a fallen world. What convicts some may not convict others, and this is biblical. It may not even be an area that is sinful, but He knows you better than you know yourself so He convicts you to keep you safe from temptation. You just have to trust the Holy Spirit. When you feel intense godly guilt - you’ll know and you cannot move past it. I encourage you to remember that the Spirit of the Lord is peace ♥️🤗 big hug, sweet sister!
A tough one simply because it has been disguised as something loving and innocuous while underlying it is betraying, evil, deceptive, contentious, divisive, etc. How people deal with it as a Christian will involve many things not the least of which is the length of time those false beliefs have had to settle and embed into their lives when living purely secular lives or as a quasi-Christian . While I cannot offer up great advice as to how you and hubby should handle it , I can offer you facts and how I myself started to deal with it as a child growing up and avoiding it to the best of my ability lest I incur more abuse at the hands of "evil" than I could endure for once you vow to try to follow the Lord that really IS what is expected and the enemy will definitely come against you for ANY thing . So, please take no offense, Anna, at some of what I share as it is not personally directed. And obviously, many adults much less children will never know much less care about some of them but as an adult Christian I am obligated to share with you and others. Firstly, some of the facts. a. The word "SANTA" was chosen specifically for the anagram but could have just as well been "SINTA" for instance. More on the play with Hebrew in a minute, but some of the Indo-European and ultimately Sanskrit which you may look up any, all or none to verify but the basic meanings are all the same , sindraz, sintar, sinder, sindr, sjadra, konis , kana In the Hebrew you may have heard or read that Ha-sata'n means "the adversary". It is derived from and a play of "satah" which in earthly realms carries the meaning of... "To turn away from a righteous life towards an unrighteous one and particularly one that involves extra-marital relations. To go aside, turn, decline, refuse, deviate from duty and obligation. Also, of or related to the Greek "saton" and Aramaic "seah" which is a unit of measure being about three gallons But in this meaning you may recognize the Adam and Eve story or the temptation of Christ or of "falling or turning away from the church or the Lord. So as for just that part, I am certain that I gave you more than enough with which to verify if you so choose. As to what you do with it will naturally be up to you because there is always a danger and risk either way, which you also seem very aware of. b. Old Nick and Nick-names and why you find no credible and verifiable information on Sinter Nikolaas but have to presume it was an early church effort to water down and convert from paganism. Essentially, Nikolaas does carry the connotation of "victory" but the root word is Norse and often attached to "darker" spirits. Some of the word variants are "nike, nikwis, nik, nixie, nixy, nix, näcken, nicor, nøkk, nøkken" but ultimately from words like "neig, neyg, nykr and nenekti " which all last carry the connotation of... "To wash or to be washed." And in this case it is the opposite for if Yeshua "washed away the sins of the world" then this is "to bathe in, be clothed in, water down, dumb down, dilute or cloak or otherwise take glory in sin as opposed to actual cleansing of." I unfortunately do not know of any other way to put it. c. Mithraism and paganism? Believe it or not, the Bible is very clear and specific about the birth of Christ. The deception is that the Word of the Lord IS NOT. It was close to the fall equinox near Tabernacles and not the winter solstice which was already being worshipped by pagans and corrupted Christians early on adopted it mostly due to the symbolism of the solstice and some three to four days later. Naturally, it goes much further back, but since we are specifically talking about Christians then that is as far back as I need to take it. Now, am I opposed to Christians trying to lessen this with the goal of eradicating it? No, but it is very dangerous ground, indeed and obviously the sooner the better and here are some of the tactics that I, as a child, had to employ to mitigate psychological and physical damage at an early age when my spirit already inherently knew everything was "wrong" and that I had to rapidly learn and retain as much as possible lest it be "beaten, brainwashed or otherwise obliterated". a. Guaging and assessing to the best of my abilities at a young age which battles to fight, back away from momentarily and how far to carry them out. b. Over the course of roughly three to ten years of age trying to convince the adults around me that if they chose to get me a gift or gifts to do so when they could throughout the year without attaching any significance to it c. Not engaging or paying to much attention to "Christmas" sayings, traditions, teasings, etc. and seldom singing traditional "Christmas" songs. d. When participating , making everything very QUICK on my part. That included acting clumsy and quickly ripping open gifts or when responding to "Merry Christmas" or "Happy Holidays" sometimes acting as if I did not hear or merely quickly saying, "Same at you" or "You too." e. When people saw the tired and distressed look on my face and asked or probed, I could say without reservation or lie that I was thinking of or distracted by other things for I was as I would always try to push thoughts of false association and tradition out and supplant it at the moment with whatever non-associative thought I could so as not to associate Yeshua with falsehood and evil despite how "pleasant and good" people thought they were being . f. Not being too discourteous or disrespectful , but still notifying people up front that I did not believe in Christmas and thought it had become nothing more than a money-making commercialized "product" for there was NEVER any talk about Yeshua or of the gospel--NEVER. Obviously, I could on and write you a thesis, Anna, but I'm certain you don't want me to
I remember believing for a long time, and then getting into fights over it. That's when my mom and dad had to tell me it was fake. And my dad sat me in the corner of the stair, and I asked, "Is God fake, too?" And my dad said, "No, you have to believe in God with everything you have. Keep holding onto him no matter what. God is real. Santa isn't." So, I trusted my dad and believed. He even told me God was more important than family and friends. But, there was a girl in my class, who was in fifth grade, the kids were teasing her, and I got mad at them because Santa Clause was so beautiful. I may have accidentally spilled the beans about him to her, but I didn't like what they were doing. But, I like what you did, in making Santa a game, rather than something the kids believe. I'm going to do that too, if I ever have kids.
we are not doing santa, but we are doing the real man behind the santa myth, st nicholas of myra. he is why santa is also referred to as old st nick! we bought our daughter a story book about how st nicholas gave generously and followed Jesus, and how he is the real meaning behind santa :) a good way to keep christmas christian!!!
Great video. I just stumbled upon this in my recommended. In essence there is nothing wrong with santa, Christmas trees, yule tide, etc. Santa is basically a fun cartoon character that should be a mode by which we recognize the greatest gift of all: Jesus. I know that many christians do not put a tree up and label these traditions as pagan influence on christian practice, however it is completely the other way around. In the early centuries since the early church began there has been precedence for christians taking traditions from other religions and appropriating them for a redeemed use. It even goes back further into the old testament. When the Israelites were taking over Canaan, many practices and linguistic elements were absorbed by the Hebrews. For example the Hebrew words for moon and sun come directly from Canaanite gods. In this instance the appropriation of the linguistic elements were a way for the Israelites to show deference not to a sun or moon god but to place God above the Canaanite gods as the creator of the universe. In the same way the traditions of Christmas have been ways for christians to show pagan practices in a redeemed light - that of Christ's birth, death, and resurrection.
More and more are learning the truth and also learning that these traditions are not biblical. Learning more as I deepen my faith to me Christmas is no different than worship of the golden calf and what the lessons of that were. People are followers and gravitate to what everyone else does but in all reality we need to focus on the teachings of the Bible not man made desires of what they feel they should be. My go to is what does the Bible say and what is the lesson of not following the word. I just hope in the future all start to recognize the importance of appointed time and get back to celebrating what’s important to God
I know from a Christian Historian that Christmas is not a pagan holiday. According to him and other Historians even the Christmas tree isn't pagan, even though so many say it's pagan. Luther was the first one who put candles on a tree at Christmas. The origin of Santa Claus is Saint Nicolaus, who used to live in the area which is now called Turkey. There is an interview with that Christian Historian on RUclips. I can look it up if you're interested.
@ if you go back even further in history you will find the truth. Constantine and constantinian church’s made their own religion as Constantine was antisemitic. Hopefully people go back to the very roots of was Jesus taught and then Bibles teachings. Jesus taught the first 5 books and sorry but none of it has been abolished upon Christs death. Unfortunately after Jesus death man changed a lot of things. Jesus was a Jew so were his disciples. Those first 5 books were written in Hebrew and if you learn the culture you will learn the truth. Don’t even get me started on false doctrines of Luther.
I feel like where I live santa isn't such a big deal (there is st. nicholas day on the 6th december), at least it wasn't in my family. however when I was a kiddo, I jokingly decided to write letters addressed to santa in the north pole, but I didn't believe he was real.. my family has always celebrated Christmas and I've heard things that it isn't biblical/pagan holiday, I think it probably depends on what you're celebrating as well. I get 1 gift from my parents and since I have a lot of relatives and I get some more, but to me it's not about gifts. (I don't like how commercialised Christmas has gotten..)
You can't turn a pagan holiday into one that honors Christ. Doing Christmas at all is an abomination to God. Read Deuteronomy 12:30-32, Mark 7:6-9, Jeremiah 10, Deuteronomy 16:21-22, & 1 Corinthians 10:21. Satan comes as an angel of light and he deceives the whole world with this witchcraft.
God doesn't convict you for wearing makeup????. I accept myself the way I am. He also said he would give me the desires of my heart, and he answered. I'm truly blessed.
Amen sister! We have been on a 15 year journey, trying to unlearn the deception from our past. We told the kids the truth about Santa and Halloween and the Easter bunny. And that let us into the most beautiful celebration of the biblical feast days. And in the last five years, all of our holidays means so much more to us now and are rooted deeply in the Bible, and also commanded by our father in heaven. It has truly changed our lives.
When my kids were small, we did basically the same thing. We opened gifts on Christmas Eve. Then on Christmas Day, we had a birthday cake for Jesus, sang Happy Birthday to Him & then we talked about gifts we could give Jesus: our love, our lives, our trust etc.
What a great topic to discuss! Thank you for sharing . ❤you did a great job explaining this!
🎉yay Jesus!! 🎉
Hey Momma's! I personally felt convicted about not lying to my children about Santa. I don't personally know any other Christian families that don't "do santa" and we live in a very Christian area and my kids go to a Christian school. It's not always easy but this conviction is so strong for me that it is worth it. My husband said, when he was told by a friend that santa wasn't real as a child, that he didn't believe it was possible that his parents would have lied to him about that. When they admitted it, he questioned if everything they told him about God and Jesus was real.
In my experience, I thought putting out cookies and milk for Santa, and waiting for him to come in the night and open these magical presents in the morning was thee best part of Christmas. The sad part is that, there aren't very many of those years... I want my children to grow up learning the true magic of Christmas being about Jesus's birth - and that will never fade and never be stolen away from them. We still celebrate by giving thoughtful gifts to each other, in remembrance of the best gift of all time - Jesus! But we do not have Santa books, Santa decorations etc. It's not about him at all.
Of course we live in the world so the kids have seen things about Santa and we just explain that it is a fun pretend story ( sometimes throw in a little bit of the history of Saint Nicholas aswell) But that Santa is a character, much like Mickey Mouse. And we don't go out of our way to introduce Santa material.
I truly wish you all the very best of luck. It's so sad and unfortunate that this character is used to take the glory and excitement away from Jesus. But it's no surprise... I pray for all of us this year and in the years to follow.
We all have made big mistakes whether about this or something else in parenting - God will use it all and God can redeem it all. I also understand that the Spirit gives us all different convictions. Praise be to God. May His Will be done!
Thank you for bringing up this topic for thoughts and discussion.
When I was very young, my mom became saved and began making changes in her life based on what she felt convicted about. One of the things she felt led to share with my sisters and me was the truth about Santa. She told us in the most beautiful way, one that I later used with my own girls. She said something like this, “Girls, I’ve been wanting to share with you the real story behind Santa. Every year, and not always, your dad decides to save a little extra money, which God has blessed him with, so that he can buy special gifts for you. So, while Santa isn’t real, your daddy is the one who uses the blessings God gives him to make these gifts happen.”
My mom says that, in that moment, we all turned to our dad, ran to him, and hugged him tightly, saying, “Santa Daddy!!😂!” We were so full of joy and gratitude, knowing that God’s provision was behind all of it.😊
As the years have passed, we’re still learning and growing. We still enjoy putting up decorations around the house-lights, little knick-knacks, and all the fun holiday trimmings. But we always remind ourselves that these are just decorations-nothing more, nothing with real value. Above all, we prioritize Jesus, who is the true reason for the season and the most important of all.❤
Just wanted to share my own experience 😊
I felt convicted by this also so I researched and found out he actually was a man who delivered presents to kids so I went with that also :)
Thanks for sharing !
That is such a beautiful way to handle it. ❤
God bless you for addressing this and walking gracefully through it.
I think that this is such a struggle for so many Christian families.
And this is such a new concept to so many Christians with so many moving parts. Like family members, school friends, etc etc etc.
My hubby and I are empty nesters now but when our kids were little we struggled because we both came to the marriage from different traditions.
So this became a struggle to figure out “our family’s way” of doing things and how to navigate not hurting other family members’s feelings.
But good communication, sharing our convictions with each other and then forming a plan was so helpful.
Those convictions also got stronger as we journeyed along our Christian walk. So changes continued.
After studying through the Old Testament we now celebrate the Biblical holidays like Feast of Tabernacles and Passover but do a small celebration with family to respect our parents and family for Christmas and Easter.
Thank you for this beautiful video and talk through a hard subject.
Welcome to the family of Christ. ❤
Please never stop celebrating Christmas! Its most appropriate to celebrate Christ's birthday (the date does not matter) & its very right to make it a big deal & special for your family. It's holy unto the Lord, really! But its good you told your son the truth about Santa & that he's not real, except the real St. Nicholas was of course. Its all very good, everything you're doing, praise God! And I've been saved for 44 years, since I was 6. And my parents & grandparents too. Praise God!
I’m very proud of you my dear sister in Christ! I was raised this way; my parents made that clear that Jesus was the King and Santa a fairytale and we didn’t put our attention on him.
Can you please pray for me… I struggle with negative intrusive thoughts a lot these days. Each time I feel bad about something, I hear myself in my head saying that I’m ugly, stupid, unworthy… I am suffering 😔 I pray and I keep repeating myself my true identity in Christ but I feel like it’s a battle in my heart 😣
You are loved, I will pray fo you!❤ Try to ask Jesus to make you see yourself as He does. And also to handle mistakes as He would. Try saying “no, that’s not true. I know the truth is that I am valued beyond measure, even if I make mistakes” every time a negative though comes. Shortly, try talking back to these thoughts with truth. The more you practice, the less these thoughts will come. And also the easier it will be for your brain to produce postive reactions.
@ thank you sister ❤️
I have some days like that too. 😢. In addition to praying I like to wear something that makes me feel pretty. I like to do some self care and I usually feel a bit better.
Lifting you up in prayer, sister 🙏🏼❤️🩹
@@AnnaDysett❤thank you I truly appreciate
GREAT message. Thank you for sharing. :)!!!!
I suggest this book it helped me so much… Henry, Richard, and Mike blackaby Experiencing God knowing and doing the will of god
Thank you so much! I’ll look into these 🤗
I gave my life to Christ in 2018, it wasn't until the following year I felt the heaviness of the conviction of santa & the other mythical things we tell our children. I have one child who was 4 at the time. The closer I got to Christ the more of the conviction and I seen how the world has taken CHRIST out of Christmas and replaced it with this other fellow. The things we tell our children about santa is the same things we tell them about Christ. The all knowing, he sees you if your bad and good. Being everywhere at once... I knew that I couldn't raise my child in that way. I couldn't lie and deceive. Also I couldn't take away God's glory. He deserves all the praise not a mythical man. Every good and perfect gift comes from the father above. God provides everything we need as His children. So the past 4 years we haven't had any santa in this household. We celebrate our saviour coming to earth as a baby, who gave us the Best gift of all. Praising Him and glorified Him alone. 🙏🙏
My child also knows not to tell other children as it's their parents job, also my child has thanked me for not lying to them. I believe the Joy of Jesus and the Christmas period will always be a happy period as it's been a foundation from a young age. Knowing the truth of Christ and the sacrifice He did for us. Giving us eternal life is the ultimate gift ❤
😇only Jesus , no Santa
My mother handled the situation in a very similar manner. ❤ it was the sweetest let down lol. I have already started referring to Santa as St Nick.
We have always done Santa as my children are in school so Father Christmas is all around them. But we have never made it a big thing . Father Christmas has always brought a small gift and it is family who bring all the lovely gifts that they get.
It’s a hard balance to not over do Father Christmas as it’s not the reason for Christmas, but also I would be so sad if they thought Father Christmas doesn’t come because they weren’t good enough.
I love the way you handled it by telling the truth but also keeping it fun
Hi Anna, thank you so much for sharing this! I am a newbie Christian myself of only 1 month so you've got me beat there haha! 😆 I, too, have felt convicted about Santa for this Christmas, and I'm so grateful that my husband has ended up agreeing with me, so we are on the same page now. Our kids are still a little too young to really understand who Santa is anyways, but we are going to tell them basically the same thing that you told your son. I also have felt convicted about a North Pole village set that I've set up for a number of years now, and I feel like I would much rather sell the village set and replace it with a beautiful manger set to celebrate Jesus :) ALSO: I wanted you to know that your videos were an inspiration to me to start reading my Bible and then a few months later fully give my life to Christ ❤
I love the idea of replacing it with the manger!
I’ve been looking for one myself. I really want to bring out baby Jesus on Christmas morning!
What a blessing for you to tell me this 🥹♥️ it really made me emotional today. PRAISE THE LORD GOD ALMIGHTY for His love!! RUclips can be such a discouraging and unkind place to be. Hearing this makes it all worth it. Welcome home, sweet sister.
@@AnnaDysett You are so sweet, thank you so much! It is so good to be home! ❤❤❤
Well said!
I’ve been on my own very funny journey for the past ten years flip flopping on how I want to approach Santa with my kids. Whatever people do, I like how you emphasized not getting rid of all magic and wonder. Children NEED that whether we use Santa as an instrument or not. I might not 100% see it all the same as you, but I think you’ve done an amazing job at striking a balance for how you handle it for your family out of a spirit led decision. Sometimes new Believers have a great perspective to offer that isn’t as heavily influenced as those of us with more of a religious past. I appreciated that and took away ideas to use. Thanks for posting.
Personally, we teach about St Nick to our young kids and tell them St Nick/Santa Claus comes to our house early on Dec 5th/6th to use his gospel driven generosity to give them their Christmas pajamas and advent books to help them get ready and excited for celebrating Jesus the Savior’s birth.
I would love some tips on how to explain religion to children. We are going to start going to church soon and I don’t know how to speak to a 5yr old about religion. She just found out about death so the Jesus details are a lot to explain lol. Also how I should handle that I am exploring church and Christianity more but my husband is still hesitant in actually going to church. We are both very introverted and the social aspect of church is overwhelming. I hope someone understands this 😂
Religion isn’t a topic I think 5 year olds need to worry about 😅 you could tell them you love Jesus and going to church is something you guys are now starting to do because you want to learn more about this Jesus you love so much. (And want to make friends with people that also love Jesus) also I think teaching her the gospel won’t be as drastic as you think. She will grab what she needs and then as she ages she’ll learn more. From you and through going to church. Kiddos are pretty resilient they adapt quickly.
The hubby topic on the other hand. I’m actually in the same boat lol. We’ve been believers for a lot longer and for me growing up church was really emphasized as important in my household where as for him it wasn’t. I don’t believe going to church makes one more holy but I do believe it’s good for us as believers for many reasons.
Last Sunday I went (we had recently been going together until about 6 weeks ago) and then he stopped showing interest. Anyways long story short. I’m gonna go alone (which I didn’t want to) and instead if bugging him I’m going to invite him along and if he says not that’s it I’m dropping the subject. God can do the work in his heart. No amount of explaining complaining or emotion is going to get my hubby into church.
Last note haha I’m not an introvert and church can still be overwhelming. With all the socializing. I will say this. The more you go and push yourself to engage and be a little uncomfortable (ie. like standing in the entrance without your phone in your hand and being okay with people noticing you are alone ) the quicker things get less stressful. If you’ve found a good church people are welcoming and quickly become like an extension of your family (and no I’m not someone that has been at the same church for years. I’ve moved around a lot and have had to redo this process quite a few times lol) give it time and show people grace. Also show yourself grace. Going to a new place especially church where people can be quite tight knit can be overwhelming.
I wouldn’t worry so much about the religion aspect. When I introduced God to my son I simply told Him that was who made him and everything beautiful that we see! Naturally, watching through example he has blossomed into such a sweet innocent relationship with the Lord. Don’t worry, the Holy Spirit will do all the heavy lifting ♥️
I think that is ok to start your only family traditions after marriage and kids, or even if a person is single. As an adult, I believe people should celebrate the holidays their way. The overwhelming spending around Christmas 🎄 stresses me out. I prefer to focus on a special meal 🥘 and charity.
The trouble with this is where does it end ? Because I feel convicted on transformers and avengers but not Santa. I recently removed all transformers out of my son’s room and donated half of them and he sleeps so much better now. Ie. not feeling frightened, he even said his room feels like it’s full of light now and no longer has darkness in it. He is 7 years old. If we are idolising samta then what else are our kids idolising ? Spiderman ? Transformers? What is worse ? A demonic brand that promotes witchcraft, violence, magic ect or a present giving man to celebrate the birth of Christ ?
It’s tough because we live in a fallen world. What convicts some may not convict others, and this is biblical. It may not even be an area that is sinful, but He knows you better than you know yourself so He convicts you to keep you safe from temptation. You just have to trust the Holy Spirit. When you feel intense godly guilt - you’ll know and you cannot move past it. I encourage you to remember that the Spirit of the Lord is peace ♥️🤗 big hug, sweet sister!
A tough one simply because it has been disguised as something loving and innocuous while underlying it is betraying, evil, deceptive, contentious, divisive, etc. How people deal with it as a Christian will involve many things not the least of which is the length of time those false beliefs have had to settle and embed into their lives when living purely secular lives or as a quasi-Christian . While I cannot offer up great advice as to how you and hubby should handle it , I can offer you facts and how I myself started to deal with it as a child growing up and avoiding it to the best of my ability lest I incur more abuse at the hands of "evil" than I could endure for once you vow to try to follow the Lord that really IS what is expected and the enemy will definitely come against you for ANY thing . So, please take no offense, Anna, at some of what I share as it is not personally directed. And obviously, many adults much less children will never know much less care about some of them but as an adult Christian I am obligated to share with you and others.
Firstly, some of the facts.
a. The word "SANTA" was chosen specifically for the anagram but could have just as well been "SINTA" for instance. More on the play with Hebrew in a minute, but some of the Indo-European and ultimately Sanskrit which you may look up any, all or none to verify but the basic meanings are all the same ,
sindraz, sintar, sinder, sindr, sjadra, konis , kana
In the Hebrew you may have heard or read that Ha-sata'n means "the adversary". It is derived from and a play of "satah" which in earthly realms carries the meaning of...
"To turn away from a righteous life towards an unrighteous one and particularly one that involves extra-marital relations. To go aside, turn, decline, refuse, deviate from duty and obligation. Also, of or related to the Greek "saton" and Aramaic "seah" which is a unit of measure being about three gallons
But in this meaning you may recognize the Adam and Eve story or the temptation of Christ or of "falling or turning away from the church or the Lord. So as for just that part, I am certain that I gave you more than enough with which to verify if you so choose. As to what you do with it will naturally be up to you because there is always a danger and risk either way, which you also seem very aware of.
b. Old Nick and Nick-names and why you find no credible and verifiable information on Sinter Nikolaas but have to presume it was an early church effort to water down and convert from paganism. Essentially, Nikolaas does carry the connotation of "victory" but the root word is Norse and often attached to "darker" spirits. Some of the word variants are "nike, nikwis, nik, nixie, nixy, nix, näcken, nicor, nøkk, nøkken" but ultimately from words like "neig, neyg, nykr and nenekti " which all last carry the connotation of...
"To wash or to be washed." And in this case it is the opposite for if Yeshua "washed away the sins of the world" then this is "to bathe in, be clothed in, water down, dumb down, dilute or cloak or otherwise take glory in sin as opposed to actual cleansing of." I unfortunately do not know of any other way to put it.
c. Mithraism and paganism? Believe it or not, the Bible is very clear and specific about the birth of Christ. The deception is that the Word of the Lord IS NOT. It was close to the fall equinox near Tabernacles and not the winter solstice which was already being worshipped by pagans and corrupted Christians early on adopted it mostly due to the symbolism of the solstice and some three to four days later. Naturally, it goes much further back, but since we are specifically talking about Christians then that is as far back as I need to take it.
Now, am I opposed to Christians trying to lessen this with the goal of eradicating it? No, but it is very dangerous ground, indeed and obviously the sooner the better and here are some of the tactics that I, as a child, had to employ to mitigate psychological and physical damage at an early age when my spirit already inherently knew everything was "wrong" and that I had to rapidly learn and retain as much as possible lest it be "beaten, brainwashed or otherwise obliterated".
a. Guaging and assessing to the best of my abilities at a young age which battles to fight, back away from momentarily and how far to carry them out.
b. Over the course of roughly three to ten years of age trying to convince the adults around me that if they chose to get me a gift or gifts to do so when they could throughout the year without attaching any significance to it
c. Not engaging or paying to much attention to "Christmas" sayings, traditions, teasings, etc. and seldom singing traditional "Christmas" songs.
d. When participating , making everything very QUICK on my part. That included acting clumsy and quickly ripping open gifts or when responding to "Merry Christmas" or "Happy Holidays" sometimes acting as if I did not hear or merely quickly saying, "Same at you" or "You too."
e. When people saw the tired and distressed look on my face and asked or probed, I could say without reservation or lie that I was thinking of or distracted by other things for I was as I would always try to push thoughts of false association and tradition out and supplant it at the moment with whatever non-associative thought I could so as not to associate Yeshua with falsehood and evil despite how "pleasant and good" people thought they were being .
f. Not being too discourteous or disrespectful , but still notifying people up front that I did not believe in Christmas and thought it had become nothing more than a money-making commercialized "product" for there was NEVER any talk about Yeshua or of the gospel--NEVER.
Obviously, I could on and write you a thesis, Anna, but I'm certain you don't want me to
I remember believing for a long time, and then getting into fights over it. That's when my mom and dad had to tell me it was fake. And my dad sat me in the corner of the stair, and I asked, "Is God fake, too?" And my dad said, "No, you have to believe in God with everything you have. Keep holding onto him no matter what. God is real. Santa isn't." So, I trusted my dad and believed. He even told me God was more important than family and friends.
But, there was a girl in my class, who was in fifth grade, the kids were teasing her, and I got mad at them because Santa Clause was so beautiful. I may have accidentally spilled the beans about him to her, but I didn't like what they were doing. But, I like what you did, in making Santa a game, rather than something the kids believe. I'm going to do that too, if I ever have kids.
we are not doing santa, but we are doing the real man behind the santa myth, st nicholas of myra. he is why santa is also referred to as old st nick! we bought our daughter a story book about how st nicholas gave generously and followed Jesus, and how he is the real meaning behind santa :) a good way to keep christmas christian!!!
Great video. I just stumbled upon this in my recommended. In essence there is nothing wrong with santa, Christmas trees, yule tide, etc. Santa is basically a fun cartoon character that should be a mode by which we recognize the greatest gift of all: Jesus. I know that many christians do not put a tree up and label these traditions as pagan influence on christian practice, however it is completely the other way around. In the early centuries since the early church began there has been precedence for christians taking traditions from other religions and appropriating them for a redeemed use. It even goes back further into the old testament. When the Israelites were taking over Canaan, many practices and linguistic elements were absorbed by the Hebrews. For example the Hebrew words for moon and sun come directly from Canaanite gods. In this instance the appropriation of the linguistic elements were a way for the Israelites to show deference not to a sun or moon god but to place God above the Canaanite gods as the creator of the universe. In the same way the traditions of Christmas have been ways for christians to show pagan practices in a redeemed light - that of Christ's birth, death, and resurrection.
Thank you so much for your wisdom on this! I appreciate you taking the time to write this.
My family just started following Torah holidays like Yeshua did. Christmas unfortunately is a pagan holiday. Even before Santa. ❤
More and more are learning the truth and also learning that these traditions are not biblical.
Learning more as I deepen my faith to me Christmas is no different than worship of the golden calf and what the lessons of that were. People are followers and gravitate to what everyone else does but in all reality we need to focus on the teachings of the Bible not man made desires of what they feel they should be.
My go to is what does the Bible say and what is the lesson of not following the word. I just hope in the future all start to recognize the importance of appointed time and get back to celebrating what’s important to God
I know from a Christian Historian that Christmas is not a pagan holiday. According to him and other Historians even the Christmas tree isn't pagan, even though so many say it's pagan. Luther was the first one who put candles on a tree at Christmas. The origin of Santa Claus is Saint Nicolaus, who used to live in the area which is now called Turkey. There is an interview with that Christian Historian on RUclips. I can look it up if you're interested.
@ if you go back even further in history you will find the truth. Constantine and constantinian church’s made their own religion as Constantine was antisemitic.
Hopefully people go back to the very roots of was Jesus taught and then Bibles teachings. Jesus taught the first 5 books and sorry but none of it has been abolished upon Christs death.
Unfortunately after Jesus death man changed a lot of things. Jesus was a Jew so were his disciples. Those first 5 books were written in Hebrew and if you learn the culture you will learn the truth.
Don’t even get me started on false doctrines of Luther.
I feel like where I live santa isn't such a big deal (there is st. nicholas day on the 6th december), at least it wasn't in my family. however when I was a kiddo, I jokingly decided to write letters addressed to santa in the north pole, but I didn't believe he was real..
my family has always celebrated Christmas and I've heard things that it isn't biblical/pagan holiday, I think it probably depends on what you're celebrating as well. I get 1 gift from my parents and since I have a lot of relatives and I get some more, but to me it's not about gifts.
(I don't like how commercialised Christmas has gotten..)
nastasia grace did a video last year about santa
You can't turn a pagan holiday into one that honors Christ. Doing Christmas at all is an abomination to God. Read Deuteronomy 12:30-32, Mark 7:6-9, Jeremiah 10, Deuteronomy 16:21-22, & 1 Corinthians 10:21. Satan comes as an angel of light and he deceives the whole world with this witchcraft.
God doesn't convict you for wearing makeup????. I accept myself the way I am. He also said he would give me the desires of my heart, and he answered. I'm truly blessed.
The Lord is so kind. I think He often convicts of things that are idols in our lives 🙂
Simone, you appear to be wearing makeup in your photo.