Why I Don’t Celebrate Christmas

I do not celebrate Christmas. For me this holiday season is a time like any other off work and duty, and we are free to use it as we deem fit, but guided by the word of God as Christians. What I’m against is Christmas itself and all it entails: celebrating Jesus’ birthday, Baby Jesus in a manger, Christmas trees, lights, Father Christmas, and all the festivities, all on a day originally designated as the birthday of Saturn, a Roman god. Jesus never told us to celebrate any such thing as his “birthday.”

Please note that this is not shared to judge anyone who celebrates Christmas but to share a different perspective. It is always good to understand the origins of something before we embrace it. We all will give account to God for everything we do or don’t do, and so judgment ultimately belongs to God.

Below are 5 reasons why I don’t celebrate Christmas.

This article also includes historical information collected from Britannica.com and History.com.

1. Pagan Origins

Christmas was created by the Roman Catholic Church as a replacement for pagan festivals. The church in Rome began formally celebrating Christmas on December 25 in 336, during the reign of the emperor Constantine, who had made Christianity the effective religion of the Roman Empire. In 350 AD Pope Julius I declared December 25 the official date to celebrate the birthday of Jesus.

Christmas was created by the Roman Catholic Church as a way of replacing Roman pagan winter solstice festivals such as

a) Saturnalia (an ancient Roman festival and holiday in honor of the god Saturn)

This was celebrated from December 17th to 23rd. Saturnalia featured feasting, revelry, gift-giving, and the use of mistletoe, which symbolized fertility. Many, especially in the West, use these same methods to celebrate Christmas.

The festival of Saturnalia involved drinking, dancing, decorations, gifts, entertainment with family and neighbors, the lighting of candles (then called Cerei), and the idea of bringing evergreen tree boughs and branches indoors. It is from here that the modern Christmas practices of Christmas lights, candles, and Christmas trees came from.

b) Dies Natalis Solis Invicti (Birthday of the Unconquered Sun)

This was celebrated on December 25th and was established officially by Emperor Aurelian in 274 AD to honor the sun god Sol Invictus (official sun god of the later Roman Empire) and coincided with the winter solstice when days start lengthening.

Dies Natalis Solis Invicti celebrated the sun’s rebirth and the return of longer days after the shortest day of the year. Before Christianity, pagans celebrated longer days and more sun at the end of December.

Church officials later adopted this period for Christmas as a celebration of the birth of Jesus. The aim was to draw pagans to Christianity by absorbing their existing traditions. This strategy worked, as these customs were then merged into modern Christmas celebrations.

25th December actually honors the sun god, and I truly believe it is blasphemous to take that same date and use it to celebrate Jesus Christ, the King of kings.

The name “Christmas” comes from “Christ’s Mass,” a worship service, and its traditions blend Christian devotion with older winter merrymaking customs.

The Christmas traditions of Santa Claus (Father Christmas), decorating trees, and gift giving are Roman pagan winter solstice rituals that have nothing to do with Christianity.

God forbids the imitating and borrowing of pagan customs to worship him.

God repeatedly warned the children of Israel not to worship him the way the pagans worship their gods. We are not to adapt pagan festivals, methods, and rituals to worship God because God does not need to copy or borrow demon holidays and celebrations. He has already told us how and where to worship him.

“You shall utterly destroy all the places where the nations which you shall dispossess served their gods, on the high mountains and on the hills and under every green tree. And you shall destroy their altars, break their sacred pillars, and burn their wooden images with fire; you shall cut down the carved images of their gods and destroy their names from that place.You shall not worship the Lord your God with such things (Do not worship the LORD your God in the way these pagan peoples worship their gods, NLT). But you shall seek the place where the Lord your God chooses, out of all your tribes, to put His name for His dwelling place; and there you shall go.” Deuteronomy 12:2-4, NKJV

“You shall not do what is done in the land of Egypt where you lived, nor are you to do what is done in the land of Canaan where I am bringing you; you shall not walk in their statutes. ‘You are to perform My judgments and keep My statutes, to live in accord with them; I am the LORD your God. ‘So you shall keep My statutes and My judgments, by which a man may live if he does them; I am the LORD.” Leviticus 18:3-5

“When the Lord your God cuts off from before you the nations which you go to dispossess, and you displace them and dwell in their land, take heed to yourself that you are not ensnared to follow them, after they are destroyed from before you, and that you do not inquire after their gods, saying, ‘How did these nations serve their gods? I also will do likewise.’ You shall not worship the Lord your God in that way; for every abomination to the Lord which He hates they have done to their gods; for they burn even their sons and daughters in the fire to their gods.” Deuteronomy 12:29-31

Thus says the Lord: “Do not learn the way of the Gentiles;
Do not be dismayed at the signs of heaven,
For the Gentiles are dismayed at them.
For the customs of the peoples are futile;
For one cuts a tree from the forest,
The work of the hands of the workman, with the ax.
They decorate it with silver and gold;
They fasten it with nails and hammers
So that it will not topple.
They are upright, like a palm tree,
And they cannot speak;
They must be carried,
Because they cannot go by themselves.
Do not be afraid of them,
For they cannot do evil,
Nor can they do any good.” Jeremiah 10:2-6

“Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership can righteousness have with wickedness? Or what fellowship does light have with darkness? What harmony is there between Christ and Belial? Or what does a believer have in common with an unbeliever? What agreement can exist between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said: “I will dwell with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be My people.” “Therefore come out from among them and be separate,” says the Lord. Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you.” And: “I will be a Father to you, and you will be My sons and daughters,” says the Lord Almighty.” 2 Corinthians 6:14-18

The Word of God is very clear in the scriptures above.

“My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I also will reject you from being priest for Me; Because you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children.” Hosea 4:6

2. Jesus was not born on 25th December.

Celebrating the birth of Jesus on 25th December is a form of falsehood since we do not know when he was born. But we are sure Jesus was not born in December since it was winter in Judea. Jesus was likely born in the spring or early fall, according to Bible scholars. The Roman church chose December to replace the pagan festivals, which happened in December during the long winter days.

If Jesus wanted us to remember, celebrate, or know his human birthday, he would have told us the day, but the Bible is quiet about this, and Jesus never made a big deal out of it. The things he wanted us to remember he mentioned, and these we should obey and observe.

3. Jesus never asked us to celebrate his human birthday.

Jesus never celebrated his birthday and never asked us to. Jesus was born to die on the cross and rise again. He never emphasized his human birthday. Jesus only asked us to commemorate the Lord’s table (holy communion) to proclaim his death until he comes. This is the only remembrance of his he asked us to keep, and not his birth as a baby.

The Bible only has 2 recorded birthdays, and both of them were celebrated or kept by evil, pagan kings (Roman and Egyptian), and evil things happened on these birthdays. One was Herod’s birthday in Matthew 14, when John the Baptist was beheaded, and the other was Pharaoh’s birthday in Genesis 40, when he hanged his chief baker. There is a reason for that; the Holy Spirit does not record things in vain. Food for thought. There is no mention in the entire Bible of God encouraging the Jews or Christians to celebrate birthdays. Birthday festivities were also of pagan origin and involved revelries that God hates.

4. Jesus is God and has no birthday.

Jesus lived before he came to earth. He is God. Celebrating him as a “baby Jesus” and having baby images of him is a form of blasphemy since Jesus is God. It reduces his divinity and makes him lose respect in the eyes of men. Jesus said, “Before Abraham was, I AM.”  Jesus is God, and God has no birthday. His human birth was a means to an end but was not his actual birth since he is the creator of all (Colossians 1:16). The creator has no birth. Jesus is Lord every day.

“Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.” John 8:58

“Without father, without mother, without descent, having neither beginning of days, nor end of life; but made like unto the Son of God; abideth a priest continually.” Hebrews 7:3

5. The nature of Christmas celebrations is ungodly.

During Christmas, just as it was during the Roman pagan December festivals it sought to replace, humans, in the name of “celebrating the birth of Jesus,” engage in fulfilling the lusts of the flesh: revelries, gluttony, fornication, drunkenness, fighting, family dramas, and financial waste in worldly excesses.

Saturnalia was celebrated with a sacrifice at the Temple of Saturn, in the Roman Forum, and a public banquet, followed by private gift-giving, continual partying, and a carnival atmosphere that overturned Roman social norms: gambling was permitted, and masters provided table service for their slaves, as it was seen as a time of liberty for both slaves and freedmen alike.

Everything is known by its fruit. We can judge by the fruit of Christmas festivities who is being celebrated: Jesus Christ or the sun god.

Jesus has nothing to do with any of these things, which are clearly forbidden in his word as the works of the flesh. It is the world’s holiday and not his. A holiday that’s celebrated by the whole world, pagan and believer alike, cannot be in honor of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Jesus told us to remember him by taking the Lord’s Supper. By drinking the wine and eating the bread in the fellowship of born-again believers, we proclaim his death until he comes. It is a holy fellowship of believers and has no worldly activities involved.

“For as often as you may eat this bread and may drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He should come.” 1 Corinthians 11:26

I believe Christmas may be the most sinful period of the year, and Jesus has nothing to do with all the revelry, carousing, partying, fornication, adultery, drunkenness, gossip, gluttony, family drama, carnage, partying, death, debts, fighting, wastage, lying, and stealing that goes on during this Christmas period. He hates it.

Many also die during this Christmas period in car accidents and the like, and sadly, the majority slip into hell. This cannot be in the name of celebrating Jesus’ birth. God never sanitized pagan festivals.

“Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.” 2 Timothy 3:5

Don’t fall prey to Satan this Christmas season—’tis the season for revelry and excesses, and Satan is not sleeping.

Be ready always, for the Son of Man cometh at an hour you think not. During this holiday season, many will be indulging in all manner of sins in the name of “celebrating the Lord’s birth.”

We need to always have eternity before our eyes because none of us knows when our hour will come. So as we do whatever we do during this holiday period, let’s remember sin is always crouching at the door, and Satan, our adversary, never sleeps. He is harvesting souls every second. Cling to Jesus.

Avoid excess and revelries, and if you do attend family gatherings, watch your speech because in the multitude of words, sin is never absent.

“The thief (Satan) comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.” John 10:10

Satan has only one agenda: to steal, kill, and destroy lives here and eternally. If you do his works (sin), that’s all he will deliver to you. He will steal your life, health, family, peace, joy, strength, security, and eventually your soul. Sin is dangerous.

This holiday season is prime time for Satan to do his work, as that’s when people foolishly engage in all manner of wickedness in the name of “Christmas”: drunkenness, fornication, revelry, gluttony, strife, foolish talk, waste, brawling, adultery, and arguing. Be careful lest you become an easy harvest for Satan. Jesus values your soul and died for you. Turn to him and live!

“Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour.” 1 Peter 5:8

“Therefore be careful how you walk, not as unwise men but as wise, making the most of your time, because the days are evil. So then do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. And do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit.” Ephesians 5:15-18

“Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.” Galatians 5:19-21

“Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober. For they that sleep sleep in the night; and they that be drunken are drunken in the night. But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation.” 1 Thessalonians 5:6-8

---

Links to where I got some of the historical information above can be found below:

---

“Although some evidence suggests that Jesus’ birth might have occurred in the spring (why would shepherds be herding in the middle of winter?), Pope Julius I chose December 25. It is commonly believed that the church chose this date in an effort to adopt and absorb the traditions of the pagan Saturnalia festival. First called the Feast of the Nativity, the custom spread to Egypt by 432 and to England by the end of the sixth century.By holding Christmas at the same time as traditional winter solstice festivals, church leaders increased the chances that Christmas would be popularly embraced but gave up the ability to dictate how it was celebrated. By the Middle Ages, Christianity had, for the most part, replaced pagan religion.On Christmas, believers attended church then celebrated raucously in a drunken, carnival-like atmosphere similar to today’s Mardi Gras. Each year, a beggar or student would be crowned the “lord of misrule,” and eager celebrants played the part of his subjects. The poor would go to the houses of the rich and demand their best food and drink. If owners failed to comply, their visitors would most likely terrorize them with mischief. Christmas became the time of year when the upper classes could repay their real or imagined “debt” to society by entertaining less fortunate citizens.” https://www.history.com/articles/history-of-christmas

---

“The precise origin of assigning December 25 as the birth date of Jesus is unclear. The New Testament provides no clues in this regard. December 25 was first identified as the date of Jesus’ birth by Sextus Julius Africanus in 221 and later became the universally accepted date. One widespread explanation of the origin of this date is that December 25 was the Christianizing of the dies solis invicti nati (“day of the birth of the unconquered sun”), a holiday in the Roman Empire that celebrated the winter solstice as a symbol of the resurgence of the sun, the casting away of winter, and the heralding of the rebirth of spring and summer. Indeed, after December 25 had become widely accepted as the date of Jesus’ birth, Christian writers frequently made the connection between the rebirth of the sun and the birth of the Son. One of the difficulties with this view is that it suggests a nonchalant willingness on the part of the Christian church to appropriate a pagan festival when the early church was so intent on distinguishing itself categorically from pagan beliefs and practices.” https://www.britannica.com/topic/Christmas

---

“Since the early 20th century, Christmas has also been a secular family holiday, observed by Christians and non-Christians alike, devoid of Christian elements, and marked by an increasingly elaborate exchange of gifts. In this secular Christmas celebration, a mythical figure named Santa Claus plays the pivotal role. Christmastime, running from Advent (or earlier) through Epiphany, is a season rich with countless religious and secular traditions that bring together family, faith, and culture while emphasizing themes of hope, joy, generosity, and goodwill.” https://www.britannica.com/topic/Christmas

---

Below is a godly article on Christmas.

“When you see a ‘Christ’ that is celebrated by the world, you are looking at a Christ that is of the world. The world loves its own.” https://www.acagefullofbirds.com/post/christmas-is-an-affront-to-the-holiness-and-the-glory-of-god

---

Would you like to honor the Lord Jesus Christ today and always? Receive him as your Savior and Lord. This is the real reason why he was born on this earth: to suffer and die for your sins and my sins and pay the debt we could never pay so that through his life, death, and resurrection, we may receive his righteousness, be reconciled to God, and have eternal life. Click here to learn how to be born again and have eternal life.

---

If this article blesses you, please share it with your friends, on your socials, and with anyone who needs to know Jesus Christ.

Are you born again? Do you have eternal life?

Have you given your life to Jesus Christ to be your Lord and Savior? He loves us so much that he, our creator, left heaven and came to earth, dying for us on the cross, taking our sins upon him so that we may be forgiven and receive his righteousness. He conquered death by rising from the dead and made a way for us who were dead in sin to be reconciled back to the Father (God). What’s more, he has prepared a wonderful home for us in heaven, where those who love him and obey him will spend eternity with him. Learn more here about how to be born again and have eternal life after this brief life on earth.

Subscribe below and join the hundreds of subscribers who receive regular, edifying teachings and updates from Mwendwa straight to their inbox! Never miss a thing!