Bible: 1John 2: 15-17

Main verse: PROVERBS 22: 6 – Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.

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Some people think that February is the month of love because it has Valentine’s Day, but actually December is the month of love, because it has the 24th as a night to remember God’s love for all mankind when He took on a human form and came down to the world to die for our sins.

For us Christians, we know that children are gifts from God, so we love our children much more to show our appreciation to God and His blessings.

PSALM 127: 3 – Lo, children are an heritage of the LORD: and the fruit of the womb is His reward.

We appreciated this gift from God when we know that many people cannot have children of their own. Even in cases of being pregnant with complicated problems, some mothers risk their lives to have their babies.

Even so, after they were born, the dedication and effort in nurturing them and bringing them up are so big that it makes us love our children more than we love ourselves. That’s why we work very hard for the benefit of our children.

In reality, we have seen the love of some parents for their children fade out eventually. It happens because when the children grow up, they often don’t want to listen to their parents anymore. Some of them even go against their parents. Those things make parents love their children less and less, and sometimes of wanting to get rid of them, but if we turn to the Bible and learn about God’s love for mankind then hopefully we will love our children as much as God has loved us:

ROMANS 5: 8 – But God commendeth His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

JOHN 13: 1 – Now before the feast of the passover, when Jesus knew that His hour was come that He should depart out of this world unto the Father, having loved His own which were in the world, He loved them unto the end.

We always try the best to give good things to our children. We work real hard to give them a better home, good food on the table and better clothes on their backs. We even save some money for them to inherit later on when we pass away. We also work hard to give them better education so that they will have a profession, a stable and prosper life in the future for themselves and for their own families.

However, because we are Christians, we should think of the eternal life also. If we only give them good things in this short life on Earth, then our children would suffer on the day Christ comes back.

We can see that people who are rich suffers sometimes. That’s why they have broken families, rebellious children and why they themselves abuses drugs, even though they have money, fame, privilege and many other good things.

The best gift that we can give to our children on Christmas and for the rest of our lives is reminding them of God’s love and encourage them to come to Him for their own salvation. As they learn to live according to God’s teachings in the Bible then they will experience the benefits of such a life.

There are more than 2 billion people on Earth who declare themselves as Christians, but only those who abide to God’s standards and live accordingly will receive the salvation and eternal life.

MATTHEW 7: 21 – Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.

Even Christians who attend church services regularly don’t actually want to live according to God’ standards, so those who have not come back to God will never live such life. That’s why Jesus said on the day that He comes back to Earth, there will be almost no faith at all among more than 2 billion Christians:

LUKE 18: 8 – I tell you that he will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall He find faith on the earth?

God’s words are always true and the above is true because lots of Christians don’t abide to the Bible and live a life that He wants us to have. In this Christmas season, we should encourage ourselves, and especially our children, to come back to God and live according to His teachings, so that we will be counted as faithful Christians on the day He comes back.

There are a lot of presents that we can give to our beloved children, but we should give them the best of them all, and that is the constant reminder to come to God and live a true Christian life in order to receive more blessings while on Earth and then the eternal life in His glory kingdom.

There is an ancient story of an old couple who wanted to give their son education in moral understanding over skillful profession in order to help him become a good person rather than a fame official of a king’s court. That’s why there was an ancient saying that states, ‘first learn how to become a morally good person, then study how to become a good writer or a skillful worker’.

We can see there are lots of people who are successful in their trades, but morally bad. That’s why societies continue to decline in morality. We Christians should encourage and remind our children to learn how to live a morally good life according to God’s standards for their own benefits.

It’s better to suffer material lost a bit and be morally good than to be rich and loose our salvation in Christ. Money does not always bring happiness, but a moral life does, so we should remind our children of it. It’s the best gift that we Christian parents should give to our children on Christmas.

JAMES 2: 5 – Hearken, my beloved brethren, Hath not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which He hath promised to them that love Him?

PROVERBS 22: 6 – Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.

Because we love our children so much that we should constantly remind them of God and His love for all mankind and encourage them to come to Him. Because we love our children so much that we should constantly pray for them for the rest of our lives so that they will have blessings and strength from God to live a morally good life until the day we all see Him in His glory.

May God bless us to be with all of our children on the day we are allowed to live in His kingdom forever. Amen.