ChristShare releases “Faith Over Festivity,” a guide helping Christians focus on Christ during Christmas. It offers faith-centered practices, biblical stewardship principles, Advent traditions, and practical tools to reclaim the holiday’s true spiritual meaning.
-- Ink Marks the Spot LLC, operating as ChristShare, has released "Faith Over Festivity," a spiritual guide designed to help Christians resist materialism that increasingly defines modern Christmas celebrations. The National Retail Federation projects that holiday sales in November and December 2025 will reach between $1.01 trillion and $1.02 trillion, creating financial stress that contradicts the peace and joy the season promises. The guide addresses this cultural crisis by offering believers practical tools to reclaim the authentic spiritual meaning of Christmas through faith-centered practices rather than consumption-driven festivities.
More details can be found at https://christshare.com/
Studies show that individuals prioritizing money and possessions often experience less happiness and more anxiety, though this relationship can be complex and influenced by socioeconomic factors. ChristShare's approach validates this finding by centering its guide on the Incarnation—God's entrance into human form through Jesus Christ—as Christianity's countercultural response to commercialism. Jesus was born in humility, in a stable and laid in a manger, directly challenging modern culture's emphasis on acquisition and material perfection. This theological foundation provides the rationale for the guide's entire framework, positioning spiritual practices as a superior alternative to consumerism.
The guide introduces Advent, the traditional four-week period of spiritual preparation for Christmas, as a vehicle for resisting commercial pressures. Emphasizing themes of hope, peace, joy, and love, this ancient practice creates intentional space for believers to examine motivations and clarify priorities. ChristShare references the Advent Conspiracy movement, started in 2006 by pastors Chris Seay, Greg Holder, and Rick McKinley with four tenets—Worship Fully, Spend Less, Give More, and Love All—demonstrating that organized Christian movements already address this problem. Building on this foundation, the guide outlines five essential spiritual practices: daily prayer and devotion, Scripture reading and contemplative meditation (particularly the nativity accounts), strategic fasting from distractions to reduce commercial exposure, service and almsgiving that redirect energy toward others, and authentic worship centered on Christ rather than consumption.
The guide also provides specific recommendations for building Christ-centered family traditions that transmit spiritual values across generations. These include nativity-focused Advent calendars with daily Scripture and reflection, reading and acting out the nativity story, giving a "gift to Jesus" before opening personal gifts, baking a birthday cake for Jesus, creating Christmas Eve blessing bags for those in need, intentional caroling with theological hymns, and choosing meaningful service projects as a family. These traditions deliberately counter consumerism by making Christ's incarnation and generosity central to family identity.
To help believers navigate financial pressure and family spending conflicts, the guide presents a biblical stewardship framework grounded in Deuteronomy 16:17, which instructs believers to "give as they are able, according to the blessing of the Lord your God." This principle emphasizes proportional, joyful giving rather than compulsive consumption. Practical strategies include setting realistic budgets early, reframing gift-giving away from store-bought perfection toward homemade items or experiences, creating healthy family conversations about values, and protecting children from materialism. The guide also addresses common Christmas challenges such as loneliness and grief (remembering Jesus as Emmanuel, "God with us"), holiday perfectionism (giving permission for "good enough" celebrations), over-scheduling (blocking out spiritual practice time), and financial anxiety (using early budgeting and the 24-hour purchase rule).
ChristShare provides concrete implementation tools, including an Advent Practices Checklist covering prayer, budgeting, Scripture reading, service, tradition-building, and rest, along with Decision-Making Questions that believers can ask when facing any Christmas activity or spending decision: "Does this draw me closer to Christ? Does this align with my stated values? Am I doing this out of joy or obligation?" These tools transform abstract spiritual values into actionable frameworks. The guide concludes by reaffirming that authentic joy grounded in the Incarnation and expressed through love, generosity, and spiritual presence can become the season's substance, quoting Matthew 6:19-21 to emphasize that Christmas choices reveal what believers truly treasure.
For more information and to access the complete "Faith Over Festivity" guide, visit https://www.ChristShare.com
Contact Info:
Name: Joni Becker
Email: Send Email
Organization: Ink Marks the Spot LLC dba ChristShare
Address: 2040 Hiersche Road, Faribault, Minnesota 55021, United States
Website: https://www.ChristShare.com
Source: PressCable
Release ID: 89180377
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