“Jesus is the reason for the season.” “Keep CHRIST in CHRISTmas.”

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve read these as a status on my Facebook wall or even heard them come up in conversation. And honestly, as a Christian, it’s beginning to frustrate me more and more every day. We as Christians want to publicly remind people about how this holiday is only ours. Now, don’t get me wrong, the reason I celebrate Christmas is in remembrance of the birth of Christ. But what often gets lost in all of the public announcements are the actual values rooted in this time of year: the four themes of Advent.

For those of you who haven’t grown up in the church or a church that actively celebrates, Advent is the four-week preparation for the actual holiday of Christmas. Each Sunday, a new candle is lit to remind us of the four main themes behind the holiday we are honoring: Faith, Hope, Joy and Love.

I’ve always grown up with Advent. I remembering watching different families each Sunday walk up and light the candle of that week as one, and then hearing a sermon centered around that theme. The whole process fascinated me. We even have an Advent wreath in our living room. By Christmas Eve, all four candles are lit, and then a fifth is lit that is known as the Christ Candle, in order to remember that connecting all these is sending of Christ by God into our world.

In a world where the Christmas sales and what is on our coffee cups are the primary focus of the season, I think more and more people could benefit from celebrating Advent. This year is my first Christmas that I haven’t lived at home. It’s my first Christmas with my own apartment.

Naturally, I followed my mother’s lead and now have an Advent wreath sitting in the middle of my coffee table. Each Sunday, I light the needed candles and read from a small devotional book. Throughout the week, there is a different devotion or story related to that week's theme, to further ingrain the meaning of it. And each time I do this, it brings that thought back into my head.

This December, I haven’t been focusing on what I’m getting for Christmas. I’m not worried about feeling marginalized because my disposable coffee cup doesn’t wish me a Merry Christmas or even if the person who checks me out at the grocery store tells me Happy Holidays. Instead, I’m focusing on faith, hope, joy and love.

Often it’s hard to get caught up in the hustle and bustle of life. Or to care too much about the material representations of Christmas that are associated more widely with it. I’m not saying for everyone to stop decorating trees, or to stop taking their kids to see Santa in the mall. They aren’t inherently bad...but is that what Christmas really is?

One of my favorite documentaries I watched for class this semester, "God Grew Tired of Us", follows boys from Sudan as they become adjusted to American life after being forced out of their own country by war. There is one scene, however, that has stuck with me and pops up in my head constantly, especially now in this Christmas season. The boys are seeing American Christmas for the first time. The mass consumerism and traditions confuse them.

To them, Christmas is a time of celebrating Jesus’ birth. Their entire community comes together and just lays their heart out, singing and dancing because they know the good news, and they know they are saved and joy and love fill their hearts so much that the only way to keep themselves from drowning in it is to send it out into our broken world. I think that they understand Christmas much more than we tend to.

If we as Christians want to constantly remind people about why we celebrate Christmas, we need to start backing it up with our actions. We are celebrating this time in remembrance of our savior being born into our human and lowly world. It’s because of this birth that our sins are washed clean. Christ came to this earth, installed faith, inspired hope, spread joy and showed love. He showed love to those who we overlook. He extended his love for each and every one of us on the cross, even though he knew everything wrong we would do. He showed boundless love. And that is the true meaning of Christmas.

So, for this Christmas remind yourself of those four themes. Have faith and hope fill you with joy, and spread love to the world because you are loved by God. And maybe, just maybe, if we all take a pledge to do that, the world will see something change.They will see the candles burning in our souls instead of just the candles burning in front of the alter. Christmas won’t just be a month of the year anymore; it will be a way of living life and moving towards the Kingdom of God.