President Gordon B. Hinckley of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints reminded church members to center their Christmas celebrations on Christ in his address First Presidency Christmas Devotional Sunday, Dec. 3, 2006.
The true meaning of Christmas, he said, is the gift that Christ gave us-the Atonement.
President Hinckley outlined the life of Christ, from his "humble birth" in a stable to his crucifixion and resurrection.
"He left His mark upon the world, which can never be erased nor diminished," President Hinckley said. "Concluding that brief life was the agony of Gethsemane and the terrible suffering of Golgotha, to be followed by the glory of the Resurrection. No other had ever done before what he did. He rose from the grave, and through his great act of atonement came salvation for all men. Our eternal lives are in his hands, and our eternal progress lies in obedience to his teachings."
President Thomas S. Monson, first counselor in the First Presidency, urged members to keep the Christmas spirit within the heart not only during the holiday season, but throughout the year.
"The spirit of Christmas is the spirit of love and of generosity and of goodness," he said. "It illuminates the picture window of the soul, and we look out upon the world's busy life and become more interested in people than in things."
President Monson concluded by urging the audience to make room for Christ in their lives.
"In our homes today we have rooms for eating, rooms for sleeping, rooms for recreation," he said. "Do we have room for Christ? We have time for movies, time for golf, time for activities which are part of our daily lives. Do we have time for Christ?"
Quoting Revelation 3:20, President Monson said if church members will "answer the door" and give their hearts to Christ, the Christmas spirit will be their gift.
Presdient Faust, in his address, related a storyabout a young mother in the 1960s whose husband had left her with six children and 75 cents. After struggling to find a job, she finally got a graveyard shift at the local truck stop, the Big Wheel. On Christmas morning the young mother, returning home from work, found her car filled with gifts - clothes, food for a dinner, and toys.
"The kindness of the unknown benefactors in this story shows a very real Christmas spirit," President Faust said. "I wish to express appreciation and thanks to all who open their hearts and give to others. Those of us who contribute anonymously have sweet inner feelings of the Spirit that swell inside when we do something for others that cannot be traced back to ourselves. Anonymous giving gives the gift a higher form of sanctification."
Copyright Brigham Young University 4 Dec 2006
