For some of you reading this, your "love language" is giving and receiving gifts. This is a beautiful and legitimate expression of love that actually reflects a God who LOVES giving good gifts.

Christmas itself is really the story of God giving the ULTIMATE gift - the gift of HIMSELF to the world.

So this won't be some message on making anyone feel shame about the Christmas tradition of gift-giving. We're not about to "throw the baby out with the bathwater".

But I'll bet many of you are feeling the same discomfort that I am. This growing sense that Christmas has been co-opted somehow by our culture's obsession with the gifts we give and receive. It's even contributing to a personal debt near crisis in our country.

How can we maintain the heart of Christmas generosity without letting the culture dictate the terms?