Director, Commonwealth Policy Center

According to one survey, the average American household will spend over $1500 on gifts and food to celebrate holiday festivities. Giving gifts to friends and family are one way we celebrate but as you walk through the tattered wrapping paper around your Christmas tree remember the real reason for Christmas: It's to celebrate the coming of Emmanuel which means God with us. Christmas centers around the most magnificent event in all of history. It's about God stepping into this world as a human being to save us from our sins. It's about a king who came in humble circumstances, born in a barn to a poor virgin named Mary. It takes the faith of a child to believe such a simple story and it takes humility to receive this gift of God's Son sent to us. Merry Christmas!