Will I be depriving my kids if I chose not to celebrate christmas any more?

Question

I have been studing with a JW and I know that many of you have said it would be better to ask the person that I am studing with all the questions that I have instead of asking them on this website. I do ask her first. However, sometimes I do not understand her explanations and the examples she gives for certain things. She will show me a scripture in the bible and sometimes I do not understand how it is applied to what she is trying to teach me. I do tell her that I do not understand and she will send me some articles via email and sometimes I still do not understand. However, I am starting to better undertstand the bible and the organization by reading the answers to my questions from other witnesses on this website.....whether they are true witnesses or not......some of the answers that I have been getting are positive.....So please continue to answer my questions I am eager to learn. Back to the x-mas thing my kids are looking forward to gifts.

I do buy my kids gifts and things all throughout the year but they look forward to x-mas time and gifts. As a child I enjoyed x-mas and also use to look forward to it. And I do not want to make a certain day for giving gifts. I want to give them on x-mas. I know of the origins. But I am not doing it for those pagan reasons. It is family fun.

Answer 1

Hello,

If you are starting to understand the Bible better, because of your discussions with us , that is indeed good, hopefully it is with a positive benefit of knowing Jehovah God and Christ in the true light of the Bible!

But, if you are not sure, then wait till you are sure, the important progress is understanding what pleases God and what does not , and acting upon that , thus our reason for worship gets more stable with Jehovah and with Christs rightful place!

--We get understanding directly from God's word and his spirit helping us!

If you see the appropriate help from us is indeed directing you to clearer & better knowledge of Jehovah & Christ , then indeed your on the right track:

(John 17:3) 3 "This means everlasting life, their taking in knowledge of you, the only true God, and of the one whom you sent forth, Jesus Christ."

***If you can't explain to yourself the reason not to celebrate Christmas, you will certainly be doing a deservice to your children , if indeed you have not prepared them with valid reasons within a reasonable time for them to assimilate to some degree!

The worship of Jehovah God is a decisive worship that one has to attain , not by others flooding us with information but by prayer ,reading of the Bible and kindred literature you trust AND then very important is that you meditate in putting the picture clearly in mind AND it needs to make sense!

This text shows what Jehovah expects of us when indeed we have the full picture of truth in mind:

You will note that the Bereans had a noble attitude, in examining the scriptures, in their wanting to know the truth:
(Acts 17:11) . . .Now the latter were more noble-minded than those in Thes·sa·lo·ni′ca, for they received the word with the greatest eagerness of mind, carefully examining the Scriptures daily as to whether these things were so. . ."

If you are not yet sure of things you are learning from us be patient with yourself in all sincerety, and not let anyone pressure you in making decisions in worship that you are not sure of as is stated here.

Please note how prayer is most vital:

(James 1:5-8) 5 So, if any one of YOU is lacking in wisdom, let him keep on asking God, for he gives generously to all and without reproaching; and it will be given him. 6 But let him keep on asking in faith, not doubting at all, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven by the wind and blown about. 7 In fact, let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from Jehovah; 8 he is an indecisive man, unsteady in all his ways. . ."

When you have come to the point of decisiveness in your worship, in all aspects of doctrine, teachings, things to avoid etc. then that is the kind of worship Jehovah accepts, without hypocrisy!

(James 1:26-27) . . .If any man seems to himself to be a formal worshiper and yet does not bridle his tongue, but goes on deceiving his own heart, this man’s form of worship is futile. 27 The form of worship that is clean and undefiled from the standpoint of our God and Father is this: to look after orphans and widows in their tribulation, and to keep oneself without spot from the world. . ."

Answer 2

Hello there!

That is GREAT you are studing with JWs! I have been a JW my whole life. I hope soon you reach the point of baptism and we can welcome you as our sister. :) How wonderful! I encourage you to keep up the good work!
Ummmm, I looked over some of your questions.... I urge you to STOP looking at things online about us. You said yourself you don't see anything positive. People (apostates) are out there spreading lies about us, planting seeds of doubt. You MUST be careful! :) Just a friendly word of warning. I again have been in the truth my whole life and I don't look at that junk either because once you read it, the doubt is there. It is NOT worth it!
Anyway, on to your question... No way, you will NOT be depriving your kids. I have NEVER celebrated Christamas, yet I got presents all the time. I have 2 kids now of my own, and they have never celebrated christmas, and let me tell you, they are a bit spoiled. ha ha! If you understand that we are NOT told from the Bible to celebrate Jesus birth (which was not in Dec anyway) and it has pagan background (coming from false religion) it makes it a bit easier to understand and except. Something my parents did with me while growing up is when they had their anniversary, we got gifts. :) And now with our kids, our wedding anniversary, is our kids day to also get gifts. So now not only do they get gifts all year long, they are always asking "when is our anniversary" ha ha! That is when we get them a big gift. Hang in there! The best thing you can give your children is the hope of everlasting life in Paradise, then they can have all they want, fresh fruit, be happy forever, without ever having to worry about dying. I hope this helps!

EDIT```
I saw you said it was for "family fun"...... You can have family fun anytime through out the year.....You don't have to do it when the world celebrates their wordly holiday. Satan makes sure he makes these holidays look fun!!! That is why our youngsters have a hard time understanding they are wrong because they see them as "fun". Again, hang in there!

Answer 3

If you show your children that you love them and give them your time and energy, they won't be deprived if you don't celebrate Christmas. You can buy them gifts anytime, it doesn't have to be on a certain day. I was raised in a Witness family and I am a baptized Witness now. I've never celebrated Christmas and have never felt deprived. We went on vacations twice a year, visited with friends constantly, and my parents and grandparents bought us presents all the time! My children have never felt deprived either, they don't miss out on anything at all. However, that is OUR family, and it is a decision that has to be made when a person has a complete and clear understanding of why they are making that decision. In other words, you need to convince yourself before you can help your children to understand why they won't be celebrating Christmas. Prayer is an absolute must under the circumstances, and hopefully you will be able to come to a clear understanding of this matter.

Answer 4

My extended family celebrates christmas and the grand parents give my children gifts. We don't celebrate christmas in our home because it's not our holiday. I don't think my children have suffered from *not* being showered with gifts at the end of the year. If anything I think it has been good for them not to indulge in that practice. I don't mind christmas celebration but I do not agree with the gift giving tradition. I think it is too much.

I do not reproach anyone who celebrates christmas with gifts to their friends and family ~ it's just not something I embrace.

Answer 5

I'm a christian, I will try to answer any question you might have, you can always email me if you want. I disagree with many teaching of jw. First they deny that Jesus is the son of God. that kills all the New Testament. so I cant say a lot about it. I believe Jesus is God, and Is the Son of God, How? I cant explain, If i explain God, he would be a god worthy of my worship. Now as to Christmas. Are you celebrating the lights, tree, gifts etc? or the Birth of Christ? If you are not celebrating the Birth of Christ, then everything else is pointless, just as it would be if you gave gifts whatever on Washington Birthday, or Martin Luther King's birthday. We give gifts, we have a tree, we have lights, But the CENTER of it all, is the birth of Jesus. How God left the glories of Heaven to be born in a barn, to live and die in my place so that I may be reconciled back to him. I could not pay the debt, so he paid it for me. That is the focus of Christmas in our home, I hope it will be in yours as well.

Answer 6

I see no problem with giving gifts to celebrate the birth of Jesus ... the wisemen came and found Him and brought Him gifts.... not that the kids are Jesus, I know you know that..

Also you could have each of them purchase a good gift to put into the stack of gifts at the church when your church invites poor families for the feast and the gifts giving... thats what we do at our church. Now since we are all gorwn we hardly ever buy a gift for each other at Christmas but do give many at the church for the little ones and for adults that have needs of clothing and food.

Answer 7

Your choice, you must explain the reason for your choice in a way they can realize this decision was made by parents who love their children, but have embraced a religion with different practices.

Answer 8

My sister became a JW and it has pretty much ruined a lot of things for our family. We all compromise to keep her happy, and her fellow JWs tell her not to compromise at all with us. It's caused a lot of broken hearts and hurt feelings. (The JW you are studying with will likely tell you that this is the result of others not following the JW truth, expect to be persecuted, etc. etc.)

Answer 9

Please don't be sucked in by this cult. They are twisting things in the bible and taking things out of context. Don't just listen to the person who is trying to convert you. Do some research on your own about what Jehovah's Witnesses really believe and then decide on your own if you agree. The bible tells us to "prove all things." Don't just listen to this person.
Let your children have the celebration of Jesus' birth. No, we don't know when it happened and no, the bible doesn't say to celebrate it, but we do lots of things in our lives to honor Jesus that the bible doesn't specifically tell us to do. Please give this lots of study.

Answer 10

I don't understand why you would be "studying with a JW". I really can't comprehend that. If you choose not to celebrate Christmas, you will be imposing your newfound religion upon them, and that is, in my opinion, dead wrong. It's not about depriving them of anything, it's about not respecting them enough to let them decide for themselves what they want to believe and celebrate. If you don't want to celebrate Christmas, don't, but don't expect them to fall in line with that. Either send them to stay with someone who does celebrate it, or give them some money and let them put Christmas on for each other.