136 – What Is The True Meaning Of Christmas

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What Is The True Meaning Of Christmas

We discuss the true meaning of Christmas outside of sales and presents.

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We’ve probably all found ourselves caught up in Christmas sales, the need to find perfect gifts, and all the stress that comes along with this holiday. What used to be a time of celebration, joy, and giving has slowly turned into a holiday of big businesses making sales quotas. No longer is Christmas the joyous occasion that it used to be.

We present statistics on just how money driven Christmas has become, and also present what Christmas time should truly be about. It’s jaw dropping the average amount an American household spends on Christmas! Instead of focusing on all of the gifts and decorations, sometimes it is good to take a step back and refocus on what Christmas is truly about.

Mentioned In This Episode

Intro:
Welcome to Christian Financial Perspectives, where you’re invited to gain insight, wisdom, and knowledge about how Christians integrate their faith, life, and finances with a biblical worldview. Here’s your Christian Financial Advisors’ host, Bob Barber and his co-host, Shawn Peters.

Shawn:
Welcome to another episode of Christian Financial Perspectives. We’re so glad you joined us. if you’re watching us right now on YouTube, don’t forget to like and subscribe to the channel. And before we get started, Bob, you ready for Christmas?

Bob:
Well, you know the answer to that.

Shawn:
Oh, no. Wait, wait. We still got a few more days for Christmas.

Bob:
We got another three or four days.

Shawn:
Right. So you’re not gonna go to the local pharmacy corner store for at least, what, two or three more days?

Bob:
Yeah And I love to do it because all of us, I meet all my friends. It’s all of us guys and we’re usually walking around with our heads in the cloud like this. Like, what are you gonna get? I don’t know. And we just start grabbing stuff and the kids love it because they just…

Shawn:
It’s almost always some sort of, there’s chocolate and some sort of like salty snacks and…

Bob:
There’s a lot of gum in there, a lot of gum. Like little bitty toys like this big I’ll get, you know? Oh yeah. It’s funny.

Shawn:
Yeah. But you buy like the whole store and spend 20 bucks.

Bob:
You know what, I got this tradition from my dad, and my dad would do that. So, it’s kind of a tradition.

Shawn:
Well, I mean, between you and Rachael though, I mean, you’re always prepared, if you will.

Bob:
Oh, Rachael prepared 5 weeks ago.

Shawn:
Your stuff is more of it’s just fun to do it like last minute.

Bob:
So today we’re gonna talk about?

Shawn:
Well, we’re gonna be talking about the real meaning of Christmas. Now, before we get into that, though. All right. I just wanted to cover, so we’re gonna be going over the big business of Christmas and then the real meaning of Christmas.

Bob:
The big business of Christmas. You think Christmas is big business?

Shawn:
Well, we’re gonna cover that a little bit.

Bob:
I know you did a lot of studying on this, didn’t you?

Shawn:
I did. I did a little bit. Well, considering this is Christian Financial Perspectives, I figured we should probably have a little bit of financial in here.

Bob:
You’re gonna give us some financial stats that go with Christmas. It’s mind blowing. It really is.

Shawn:
So this is coming be more from the retail side. Which there’s a lot of statistics on it. So between Thanksgiving and Christmas, US, because this is just the US. I don’t know about the other countries. But for the US, retail sales reached $889 billion in 2021. That’s right. $889 billion, billion with a B. B as in Bravo, or as in a lot of money – in 2021 and are expected to reach $942 billion this year in 2022. We’re obviously through quite a bit of it already.

Bob:
I wonder how much of that – do you have stats on how much this is going on credit cards?

Shawn:
Well, we’re gonna gonna get a little bit into like how much people spend. But, but yeah. Just in the last couple months, Bob, we’ve been seeing some of the stats coming out about how much just normal life, like how much the average credit card debt, has been going up for per household.

Bob:
It’s gone way, way up because of way of inflation. People didn’t quit spending money. They just put it on the card and just kept going.

Shawn:
And then it adds up. I mean, like the Bible says, “Little by little,” right?

Bob:
Yep.

Shawn:
So, those are just some of those initial stats. The top end estimate though, Bob, for 2022 is $960 billion. Right. 960. Now, here’s what gets even crazier. Compare that with 2012 numbers.

Bob:
10 years ago.

Shawn:
10 years ago. $567 billion. We’re up over 66% in just 10 years. That is a lot of Christmas shopping, right?

Bob:
I would think the retail stores really push it and we see how they push it.

Shawn:
No, I’ve got some interesting data on here too of how much Christmas accounts for in retail. So, to break this down a little further, think about the following few stats we have, but I have a few stats.

Bob:
Wait a second. Before you go into this. I don’t want my wife hearing this because if she hears this top number, you’re gonna give, we don’t spend that much. She’ll say, well, that’s the average household.

Shawn:
Yeah. Well.

Bob:
Okay. Go ahead.

Shawn:
Take with that what you will. But Rachael, I hope you do watch this, because we put a lot of work into this. We’ve put a lot of work in these episodes. All right. Think about this from the 2022 holiday season, which is almost over. They call it the holiday season because it kind of starts a little bit before Thanksgiving, to an extent.

Bob:
Now it does.

Shawn:
Yeah. And for sure Black Friday and then it goes through Christmas and you’ve got your people shopping on the 24th. So anyway, US households will spend an average of 7250 – $7,250 during the holidays.

Bob:
I don’t think we’ve ever spent that much.

Shawn:
No, but that’s the average.

Bob:
That’s the average?

Shawn:
That’s the average.

Bob:
So a lot of people spend more than that?

Shawn:
Well, So, the way I came up with that number, because I couldn’t find specific stats on the actual average. Like I’d seen some averages from like a number of years ago. But I wanted something more current. So what we did is we just took, well if the estimate – the $942 billion, you divide that by the total number of households in the US, you get $7,250.

Bob:
You think they’re taking some of my neighbors I was telling you about that are spending $5000 to $25,000 just on lights?

Shawn:
Bob, they might be watching this. Don’t call them out on the lights.

Bob:
And having professionally installed lights. I wonder if that goes into that number. Yeah, that’s crazy. $7,250. Wow.

Shawn:
And see it’s funny though, too.

Bob:
That’s per household.

Shawn:
That’s what the…

Bob:
I know y’all don’t spend that much.

Shawn:
No, we don’t. But you take that $942 billion and if that’s the spending, you just divide that into the number of households.

Bob:
Well, that’s what’s interesting is how so many of these people are spending more than that. Of course, a lot of people are spending less, too. But still, that’s a lot.

Shawn:
So, another one, holiday shopping accounts for 30% of annual retail sales.

Bob:
Well, I don’t doubt that one.

Shawn:
30% of the annual sales are just like Christmas shopping, basically. Another one, from December 15th to the 24th accounts for 40% of all Christmas sales.

Bob:
I know that one. Cause I do that, on the 24th.

Shawn:
But think about that. So 30% of the annual sales occurs during this short window of time. And 40% of that is just from the 15th to the 24th.

Bob:
Hopefully, it helps some of y’all cuz we’re doing the program two or three days before. So maybe we’ll save you some of that.

Shawn:
So if you are, if you haven’t finished your shopping yet, you’re just helping to contribute to that 40%

Bob:
Now this is an interesting one, this next one. Go ahead. I’ve got to comment on this one.

Shawn:
56% of all shoppers buy gift cards.

Bob:
I wish you looked that up because I’ve heard some crazy percentage number of the gift cards that a lot of them never spend it.

Shawn:
That’s right.

Bob:
There’s unspent money on those gift cards.

Shawn:
And certain gift cards also have expiration. So what what will happen is, is you get a gift card and not only does it expire after a certain period of time if you didn’t use it, but some cards even have, I think this is like the more like the credit card debit card, like the Visa, MasterCard, stuff like that, where there’s a charge, basically like a finance charge per year. So even if it technically didn’t expire, depending on how much was added onto it, if you waited long enough, it’ll literally just go to zero from finance charges each year.

Bob:
I mean, it’s a profit making deal.

Shawn:
It’s a profit making deal. But the other thing too, just as an aside, it’s kind of sad to me that we’re at well over 50% of gifts are just a gift card. Because effectively, if you get the gift card, it’s like, well, I think maybe they might go eat or go to this restaurant or whatever. And you’re not even really, at that point, giving a gift. Like, isn’t the whole point, like at its core of when you’re giving a gift to someone, it’s like, Hey, I thought about this. Like, I wanted something that would be meaningful to you, and you buy a gift card. It kind of feels like just an easy way out of, “Oh, I checked the box to give a gift.”

Bob:
You can tell everyone because we don’t have this rehearsed in advance or anything. You know what my favorite gift is, because tell them. Go ahead.

Shawn:
It’s the stuff my wife always gets you, this basket with all your favorite snacks.

Bob:
Exactly. Which is coconut.

Shawn:
For anyone who wants to send us a gift.

Bob:
Coconut chips, coconut drinks. You name it. It’s got coconut in it. I love it.

Shawn:
So if you’re sending anything to Bob as a thank you for the show, make sure it’s got coconut in it.

Bob:
Hey, maybe we’ll get some coconut gifts now. All right.

Shawn:
So, and the last stat I wanted to share on just this retail side of it, the top five items people plan to buy for themselves as a Christmas gift for yourself, Alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages. So drinks – 33%. Food, including like meal prep kits, 30%. Clothing, 30%. Shoes, 23% and books, 17%. I don’t know, just thought it was interesting.

Bob:
Shawn, I think about all this big business, and it’s gotta be stressfu.

Shawn:
A little bit. Yeah, yeah.

Bob:
Because all this debt that you’re accrue, a lot of this is debt, as you know, especially this year because credit cards are maxed out and you’re just putting more and more on them, and there is that stress.

Shawn:
Yeah. So the stress of the Christmas shopping. So, I wanted to share a little bit of information like from the American Psychological Association and some surveys that they’ve done, and just that information about the stress. Because you obviously have the money side, the retail side of it, but then there’s the actual mental stress of this. Almost three quarters of Americans report that money and work are significant sources of stress in their lives. And this according to the American Psychological Associations, a 2007 Stress In America survey. The holidays, anything between Thanksgiving and Christmas. Then compound the pressure as revealed in the APAs 2006 poll on holiday stress. Now, middle income Americans are particularly affected as the everyday financial pressures are amplified by demands to spend more. And now, inflation.

Bob:
It’s demand, you gotta spend more if you love me. Come on, spend more. That’s what America’s about. Right? Consumerism.

Shawn:
I know it’s sad. And then with inflation, this has just gotten even worse. Because now, just to do the same as last year, you’re not even outdoing last year, but just to do the same as last year and now you’re gonna spend even more. So, with the pressure to create the perfect holiday, so whether that’s a memorable meal, expensive gifts, elaborate decorations, and more like…

Bob:
Okay, let me expand on that. So you know us, we watch Hallmark every night. And I’m looking at all these decorations, I’m going, my house does not look like these houses. Wait a second. They’re professionally done. That’s a movie set. But all those decorations, again, I was telling you about…

Shawn:
Wait, Bob, are you, are you saying that sometimes Hollywood, even Hallmark Channel, doesn’t portray life as accurate as it typically is? Like, is there a little bit of Hollywood magic going on there?

Bob:
All perfect.

Shawn:
Oh, okay. All right. Well whether it’s those elaborate decorations or more, just not having enough money to do it all causes stress to more than 60% of those surveyed for holiday stress. So like, just everything about that feeling like I can’t do enough. Like, I’m not gonna be able to make the perfect holiday, just drastically increases the stress that people go through. And then, the worries continue even more when the credit card bills arrive a month later.

Bob:
Oh yeah.

Shawn:
Because you’re going through all this spending and it’s just really easy to, “Oh, buy this and buy this and oh, it’s on sale!” But remember, you’re still paying something, even if it’s on sale, you’re still spending money. So, make sure you’ve got a budget. Like that would be the one thing to help with the stress. Because like, you can’t avoid gifts at all.

Bob:
Yeah, that’s right.

Shawn:
But at least make sure like you stick to a budget that you can manage.

Bob:
Like what my old buddy Dave Ramsey always says you can get in debt in just a matter of days, but it can take you years to get out.

Shawn:
Oh, that’s right.

Bob:
And you think about, like, we go back to those stats that you were sharing earlier, that the majority of this shopping happens just a couple weeks before. So you’re pushing those credit cards way up just over two weeks and then it might be the next 12 months that it’s gonna take you to pay them off. How many, this is kind of a hard question I want to ask in all this, but I gotta admit even myself, Shawn, if I sat down and tried to list out 10 of the things I got last year, it’d be very hard. I don’t think most people could remember even 10 of them. Maybe two or three. And you always say, I always remember when Jenna, she knows what I love and gets me my food basket. That’s something I remember every single year. I start thinking, and I can’t really remember what else I got last Christmas. I think Rachael got me one of those little, what is it called, planes that go up in the air and take a picture.

Shawn:
A little drone.

Bob:
But I’ve not used it. See? I still gotta learn how to use it. I’m waiting for you to show me how to use that thing.

Shawn:
All right. Well, we’ll have to take a look at that later.

Bob:
I think that was a Christmas present, but I can’t remember. Can you? Could you list them? I gotta ask you, those listening to us, could you list 10 other things that you got last year right now? Could you sit down with a piece of notebook paper and write down 10. I bet you couldn’t.

Shawn:
I think the point here, though, is not to make someone feel bad about giving.

Bob:
Not at all.

Shawn:
But if anything, when you’re thinking about the stress of shopping for people for during Christmas, just remember that like Bob was saying, it’s not that important what you actually get. You’ve probably heard that before. It’s the thought that counts.

Bob:
Oh yeah. Right.

Shawn:
It’s not as much what you actually got. It’s the thought that went into it. You showed someone that you cared.

Bob:
Don’t hear that term very often anymore. It’s the thought that counts.

Shawn:
That’s right.

Bob:
Because it does. When there’s thought put into it, it’s more meaningful. There’s no doubt about that.

Shawn:
So now, I wanna share some scriptures with our viewers and listeners of what God’s word says about money and priorities, which I think is a good time to share this. So we’re gonna start with Proverbs 22:7, “The rich rules over the poor and the borrower is slaved to the lender.”

Bob:
Hmm.

Shawn:
That’s a good one to think about with trying not to get the credit card debt up too high.

Bob:
Yeah. Yeah, it is.

Shawn:
Bob, if you wanna get the next one.

Bob:
Matthew 6:19-21, “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up yourselves treasures in heaven where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal, for where your treasure is there, your heart will be also.”

Shawn:
Yeah. I feel like that’s a good one, too, with the where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. If you’re focused on what you’re getting people for the sake of like, it needs to be perfect, it needs to be great. Well, then you’re kind of missing the point of like, you’re wanting to show someone that you care. You’re wanting to show someone that you love them. And so, it should be more about like why you’re doing it, not what you actually spent.

Bob:
Yes, exactly.

Shawn:
So for the next one, Luke 12:34, “For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.”

Bob:
Matthew 6:24, “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he’ll be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.”

Shawn:
That’s right.

Bob:
Okay. So, we’re gonna really get into now what we feel is the real meaning of Christmas.

Shawn:
That’s right. And whether you’re watching or listening to this episode, we want you to feel hope this Christmas season. We don’t want you to feel hopeless. Some of you may be stressed about Christmas coming up because maybe you feel like you didn’t get enough gifts. that whole thing about the perfect making the perfect Christmas. Maybe you feel like you didn’t get enough gifts for your family, or you didn’t get the right gifts. They weren’t the right ones. Maybe you’re stressed from spending too much money on the gifts, and you’re worried about the budget. You’re worried about that credit card bill coming due. Regardless of why you’re stressed, because it also might be just stressed about all the family coming into town.

Bob:
Could be.

Shawn:
But regardless of why you’re stressed, take comfort in knowing Christmas isn’t just about the gifts, it’s about celebrating the coming of Jesus to earth to save us.

Bob:
That’s correct.

Shawn:
So that takes us into the real meaning of Christmas.

Bob:
Isaiah 7:14 says, “Therefore the Lord himself gave you a sign. Behold the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel.”

Shawn:
And just remember, as we’re going through these scriptures and you’re thinking about kind of how this Christmas has gone for you, since we’re not quite to Christmas yet, that you can still focus, like you still have time, you can still focus on what’s really important this Christmas with your family, even if you fell into the trap of the big business of Christmas. And to help you with this, we’re gonna highlight a few things to remember in addition to these scriptures. And hopefully this will help you not just for this Christmas, but for next year, too. So, our next scripture is John 3:16. Some of our Christian listeners might know this one, but John 3:16,”For God so loved the world that he gave his only son that whosoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life.”

Bob:
And John 14:6, you go ahead and read that one.

Shawn:
“Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father, father except through me.'”

Bob:
So I put together 10 meanings of the true meaning of Christmas, and this is what it means to me. I hope it means the same thing to you, Shawn, and to those that who are listening. The number one thing that I think is the true meaning of Christmas is this is about the immaculate conception and virgin birth of God’s one and only Son. I was just, this morning, as I was thinking about this, about the immaculate conception that this is the only person has ever been born on this earth that was not from the seat of man. But it was from God and and this was a virgin birth of purity.

Shawn:
Yeah. It’s just amazing thinking about like, there’s that part and just from that point forward, all of the promises and the prophecies that were made that God fulfilled and for, I mean, you think about, what was it? I think it was 400 years of silence from the time of the last prophet until Jesus, or the angel comes to Elizabeth right before Mary. So, until that angel showed up.

Bob:
Because John was coming.

Shawn:
Exactly. And before that angel, there was 400 years of silence. And you’ve gotta imagine, like if you’re one of the Jewish people thinking, well, God, you made all these promises, where are you? Where are you? Like, what’s going on? We haven’t heard anything from you. And God’s timing is not our own. But when he says, I will do something, he is faithful to do that. And that is what’s so amazing. Like when Jesus was born, it just started this whole cascade effect of remember all those promises I made to you? I’m fulfilling them. Now, here’s my son.

Bob:
That was the first miracle in immaculate conception.

Shawn:
The second one. It’s about unconditional love for all of us, no matter where we are in life.

Bob:
He came for every one of us. That’s right.

Shawn:
That’s right. Whether you’re a king or the blind beggar in the street.

Bob:
It’s about the worship of the King of Kings. The wise men came thousands of miles and could see the universe lining up to shoot that bright light in that star and shepherds on that glorious night.

Shawn:
Yeah.

Bob:
They came to worship the King of Kings in a barn amongst smelly animals because man, even from that point, was trying to reject.

Shawn:
That’s right.

Bob:
So God being born. We can still accept that today.

Shawn:
And it’s about the Holy Angels rejoicing, announcing the birth of Jesus to the shepherds.

Bob:
It’s about purity and holiness is truly what this day is about, the purity and holiness of God and of Jesus Christ.

Shawn:
It’s about Jesus being born humbly in a manger around a bunch of stinky animals so Jesus could relate to everyone no matter the social hierarchy.

Bob:
He didn’t come for the wealthy. He didn’t come just for the poor. He came for both the wealthy and the poor. He came for everyone. It’s about bringing forth the fruits of the Holy Spirit. It’s about love and joy, peace, patience, kindness and gentleness all in one, one person.

Shawn:
It’s about giving them meaning and purpose to this life.

Bob:
It is.Without Christ, I cannot imagine living life without Christ walking beside me. It’s about the Trinity. It’s the Father, it’s the Son, and the Holy Spirit, three in one.

Shawn:
That’s right. And finally, it’s about the free offer of a real and meaningful life here on earth with purpose, meaning, and eternal life with the maker of our universe simply by acknowledging and accepting His one and only son Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior.

Bob:
Amen. That’s what we feel the meaning of Christmas is. And while the lights and the snow and the beautiful trees, the food and the cookies, definitely, the Christmas movies are all good. But the real meaning of Christmas is about God coming to live amongst us through his immaculate conception of a virgin birth conceived by the Holy Spirit. So, Merry Christmas from all of us at Christian Financial Advisors.

Shawn:
Merry Christmas and thank you for joining us.

Outro:
We invite you to listen to all of our past episodes, covering many financial topics from a Christian perspective. To make sure you don’t miss any of Bob’s upcoming episodes. You can subscribe to Christian Financial Perspectives on iTunes, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, or Amazon Music to learn more about integrating your faith with your finances. Visit Christianfinancialadvisors.com or call (830) 609-6986.

Disclosure:
Investment advisory services offered through Christian Investment Advisors, Inc DBA Christian Financial Advisors also known as Christian Financial Advisors Management Group, a registered investment advisor. Comments from today’s show for informational purposes only, and not to be considered investment advice or recommendations to buy or sell any company that may have been mentioned or discussed. The opinions expressed are solely those of the host Bob Barber and his guests. Bob does not provide tax advice and encourages you to seek guidance from a tax professional. While Christian Investment Advisors believes the information to be accurate and reliable, we do not claim or have responsibility for its completeness, accuracy, or reliability.