Christians, tell your children there is no Santa Claus

[Candi770]

Generally Children are a lot smarter than what we give them credit for. If we celebrate for the right reasons their is no need to explain about "Santa Clause"

[Emily~Anne]

i don't know how she came to believe in santa. that belief was not something i fostered. but children WANT to believe in fairy tales. perhaps having such childhood beliefs stimulates their imaginations or something. it makes them happy.

Out of your whole post LadyC- this is what stuck out to me.

If anyone can miss the power in the above couple of words...then you need to stick in some kids dvd's and experience the fairytale world in which they have a RIGHT to live in. They are CHILDREN...they deserve to believe in flying fairies, animals that can talk, and a man whole will bring them a present at Christmas.

If you are one of those people who are ruining that dream for your children, then I suggest you go into your movie and book collection right now and throw out every single piece of material that deviates even minutely from reality...because afterall- are you not just continuing to support belief built on lies??? and yes, that was sarcasm.

OK, first of all, as long as the fiction is not being presented as truth, then NO I do not need to go and throw out every piece of fiction we own. There is a difference between reading fictional stories and such , knowing they are fictional and actually lying outright and saying Santa is real. Our children are even allowed to watch movies with Santa in them. The very important thing is that they KNOW IT IS FICTION just like all other fiction. This is NOT the same as allowing your children to believe Santa Claus is real.

And.......there is PLENTY of joy and happy goosebumps in knowing about and celebrating this wonderful gift God gave us of his Son! Do you not get goosebumps when you read Luke 2? Is that so boring that we need to supplement with something exciting like Santa Claus? In our house, Luke 2 is way more exciting than say "The Night Before Christmas".

Children who are growing up hearing very little about the birth of Christ are the ones who are truly deprived. Not the ones who are not taught that Santa is not real.

[Guest LadyC]

but... even if we tell our kids santa isn't real, that doesn't mean they won't choose to believe in him anyway... because they love fantasy worlds, and it makes them happy.

i guess what i was getting at is, there isn't anything wrong with a child believing in santa. there may be plenty wrong with presenting it as truth, but WE can't control what they WANT to believe. and they will believe what makes them happy. we don't need to tell them santa is real, and we shouldn't lie to the. but if they want to believe it anyway, i think it's a shame to force reality on them. they'll know soon enough.

[Emily~Anne]

Well that is a different perspective. My children never gave Santa much thought and put him on pretty low priority. Christmas is plenty exciting enough for them just celebrating the birth of Christ. If they were really interested in Santa, I'd be wary of them making an idol out of Santa above Jesus.

[Guest Biblicist]

but... even if we tell our kids santa isn't real, that doesn't mean they won't choose to believe in him anyway... because they love fantasy worlds, and it makes them happy.

i guess what i was getting at is, there isn't anything wrong with a child believing in santa. there may be plenty wrong with presenting it as truth, but WE can't control what they WANT to believe. and they will believe what makes them happy. we don't need to tell them santa is real, and we shouldn't lie to the. but if they want to believe it anyway, i think it's a shame to force reality on them. they'll know soon enough.

Proverbs 22:15 Foolishness is bound up in the heart of a child;

The rod of correction will drive it far from him.

OH, COME LET US ADORE HIM, CHRIST THE LORD

[sierra21]

but... even if we tell our kids santa isn't real, that doesn't mean they won't choose to believe in him anyway... because they love fantasy worlds, and it makes them happy.

i guess what i was getting at is, there isn't anything wrong with a child believing in santa. there may be plenty wrong with presenting it as truth, but WE can't control what they WANT to believe. and they will believe what makes them happy. we don't need to tell them santa is real, and we shouldn't lie to the. but if they want to believe it anyway, i think it's a shame to force reality on them. they'll know soon enough.

Proverbs 22:15 Foolishness is bound up in the heart of a child;

The rod of correction will drive it far from him.

OH, COME LET US ADORE HIM, CHRIST THE LORD

How is an active imagination "foolishness"??

seriously.

[ladypeartree]

I have no problem with santa / father Christmas / Sion corn / my children enjoyed all the excitment of the build up to Christmas and were able to combine both the fantasy and the reality very well ...give the children a bit more credit ...they are NOT stupid

We had Christs birthday in the morning and then celebrated my daughters birthday in the afternoon ....

[Emily~Anne]

And yet Christmas was a pagan holiday to begin with.....hummm.

Shalom,

Nope. The celebration of the birth of Messiah is very Scriptural.

Luke 2

The Birth of Jesus Christ

8And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. 9And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with fear. 10And the angel said to them, "Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. 11For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. 12And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger."

13And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying,

14 "Glory to God in the highest,

and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!"

Bump

[sierra21]

And yet Christmas was a pagan holiday to begin with.....hummm.

Shalom,

Nope. The celebration of the birth of Messiah is very Scriptural.

Luke 2

The Birth of Jesus Christ

8And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. 9And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with fear. 10And the angel said to them, "Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. 11For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. 12And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger."

13And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying,

14 "Glory to God in the highest,

and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!"

Bump

Gosh I almost hate to do this....

but I'm gonna do it anyway.

What about Christmas trees? Gift giving? Decorations? Wreaths?

Where is that in the bible?

I am not against christmas by any means...but it is largely influenced by pagan ideal. Just needed to point that out...

[Emily~Anne]

That doesn't change the fact that Christmas has nothing to do with Jesus birth, it was a pagan holiday taken over and used for it, nothing more.

That doesn't change the fact that I and my family like having a day to celebrate the day of Jesus. Honestly, the link between pagan and Christmas is VERY weak (if not downright false) compared to that of Halloween and paganism where the connection is very STRONG. I can think of a very GOOD reason to celebrate Christmas-the birth of Christ!