-Contributed by Jose Moreno, 16

You can’t have Christmas without Jesus.

Christmas is a time for family.  It’s not all about presents and getting what you want; it’s also about the birthday of our Lord and Savior Jesus.  What I love about Christmas is not the presents; it’s the valuable time with my family and waking up to good memories.  It’s the feeling of having a family around you and also not worrying about anything for the whole day.

We give gifts to our family and friends out of the kindness of our hearts and expect nothing in return. This idea is something we should embrace not only during Christmas but all year round.  Jesus wants us to embrace this idea also.

I personally see a lot of insults and threats on social media from people who put Jesus in their bio and all over their profile.  We want people to believe that we follow Jesus, but stop to think about this:  Is this what Jesus wants us to embrace?  Should we threaten and discourage other people but proclaim Jesus is our Savior in our next statement?  Of course not.  The bible says to love your enemies and embrace kindness and love.  We do this during the holidays with our family, but shouldn’t we do this all year round?

As we enter into this season, let’s remind ourselves the reason for the season and enjoy what we do have instead of what we don’t have.  Encourage and love each other in the most genuine way possible.