2014
How can I give people meaningful Christmas presents without getting caught up in commercialism?
December 2014


“How can I give people meaningful Christmas presents without getting caught up in commercialism?” New Era, Dec. 2014, 41

How can I give people meaningful Christmas presents without getting caught up in commercialism?

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Christmas present

Illustration from iStock/Thinkstock

It’s probably best not to put too much pressure on yourself to give the “perfect gift.” If you give gifts, do so with love, thoughtfulness, and kindness in your heart. Often a simple, inexpensive gift from the heart (including giving of yourself and your time) can say more than a big, flashy present ever could. But whatever you do, don’t stress yourself out about it.

During the Christmas season, remember this suggestion from Elder Jeffrey R. Holland of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles: “Maybe the purchasing and the making and the wrapping and the decorating … should be separated, if only slightly, from the more quiet, personal moments when we consider the meaning of the Baby (and his birth) who prompts the giving of such gifts” (“‘Maybe Christmas Doesn’t Come from a Store,’” Ensign, Dec. 1977, 64).