5 Christ-Oriented Christmas Traditions

I’ve been married for a over a year and have yet to start Christmas traditions with my husband. We’ve talked about the traditions we’d like to adopt from within our own families. But I also want to create new Christ-oriented traditions with our future family.

A couple worldly traditions are opening one gift on Christmas Eve and eating prime rib and shrimp on Christmas Eve. A couple of Christ-oriented traditions from our families are giving a gift away to someone else and passing out treats to our neighbors. Christmas is the perfect time we can remember our Savior by creating Christ-oriented Christmas traditions.

Give a Christmas Gift Away

Although my husband and I don’t have kids yet, we’ve already begun planning our future family holiday traditions. Before we went to bed the other night, he shared one of his Christmas childhood memories. He said that after he and his siblings opened all of their Christmas gifts, his parents told them to pick one of their gifts to give away to someone in need. When he shared that story, I instantly knew that this is one tradition I will be starting when we have kids. It’s an act of service that we can teach at a young age.

Help at a Local Food Bank

We’ve both helped at our local food bank in Utah County, but not during Christmas time. But one year I volunteered before Thanksgiving and it was hectic. There were so many families at the food bank trying to gather food for Thanksgiving dinner. I was stunned with the amount of holiday foods and desserts other families have donated to the food bank.

We should all set aside time to volunteer at the food bank. If we don’t have time, we can donate food for the families in need. I told Danny that this year for Christmas, I want to spend money on food and donate all the food to the food bank. Anything means everything to those families.

Pass Out Treats to Neighbors

A way we can show others that we’re thinking of them during the holidays is giving them Christmas treats. Every year during Christmas time, my mother-in-law makes a bunch of different Christmas treats for others. She packages the gifts and gives them to neighbors on Christmas Eve.

Christmas treat recipes:

Christmas Stained Glass Sugar Cookies
Christmas Cookie Recipes
Homemade English Toffee
Cinnamon Sugar Pecans

Gift bags and boxes:

Treat Bags
Christmas Gift Boxes

Adopt a Family for Dinner

We may know parents who are unable to provide a Christmas dinner for their family this year. We may also know families that don’t have relatives in town or are unable to travel for the holidays. If that’s the case, we could invite them over to dinner during the holidays. My aunt invited a couple over for Thanksgiving this year. They just moved down to Southern California and didn’t really have anywhere to go, so my aunt invited them to Thanksgiving.

Write a Letter to Our Savior

Every year, children write letters to Santa Claus. Even when we were little kids, we probably only thought to write letters of what we want for Christmas to Santa. Instead of writing a letter to Santa, we can write a letter of gratitude to our Savior. Because of Him, we have the atonement. We have so many blessings and opportunities because of Him.

There are many ways we can honor our Savior during the holidays. These 5 Christ-oriented traditions are just the few of many traditions we can start with our family this year.

More info at How Every Christmas Starts with Christ.

If you have any Christ-centered traditions you participate in with your family, share them in the comments below!