The gospel brings freedom and perspective to our holiday traditions as we intentionally choose what and how to celebrate in our homes.

With the gospel as our foundation, we’re free to enjoy the extra trimmings and traditions of Christmastime as biblical wisdom and personal conscience allow.

Historical church traditions can be helpful for intentionally weaving the gospel into our homes, but we can each exercise our convictions with freedom and grace.

The heartbeat of our life as redeemed moms is Christ’s death and resurrection—giving us hope for today and tomorrow.

Whether we celebrate Advent in big or small ways (or maybe no way at all), we can shift our focus this Christmas off what we do as moms to what Christ has already done for us in the gospel.

The gospel frees us from viewing our salvation like Santa’s “naughty list”—where we have to earn and deserve our gifts.

Unmet expectations around the holidays remind us of our need for divine rescue and God’s provision in Christ—the true reason for the season.

Mother’s Day can be a time to mourn over what is broken, rejoice over what is good, and look forward to God’s final redemption.

Meals can do more than nourish our bodies—they can be an opportunity for the Lord to nourish our souls as we remember what he has done.

Maybe it's crafting cute Thanksgiving turkeys with your kids, opening envelopes on your Advent calendar, or making pancakes for birthday mornings—all families have traditions. They range from the simple to the elaborate, the every-so-often to the every-year, the super meaningful to the silly.

Sometimes traditions bring us joy. They help us reorient our hearts toward what we value most, offer us pause in the midst of life's hustle and bustle, and provide consistent signposts to think of God's faithfulness. And sometimes, they're just plain fun.

Other times, traditions cause pressure and guilt. We’re upset when we abandon the Advent calendar, annoyed we forgot to pull out books on time, or frustrated there are now turkeys glued to our tables.

Thankfully, traditions don't earn our good standing before God, measure how well we "did" the holiday season, or guarantee our kids will love Jesus. Instead, traditions are another area the gospel gives us freedom to decide what's best (and most fruitful) for our families. We can light the weekly candle for Advent, or not. We can have an Easter party, or not. We can start a tradition, or stop one.

As long as we’re living by faith in the completed work of Christ, and striving to love others well, we each have freedom for how traditions play out in our own homes.

At R|M, we want to equip you to apply the gospel to every aspect of life by being “gospel thinkers.” Because the gospel changes everything—even our traditions.

So to help you kick off this holiday season with biblical understanding, @emschumacher is explaining how to take what scripture teaches about traditions and apply it to our lives. Think of it as a tool for filtering what traditions you might want to start (or stop) in your own home. Wondering what to do with Santa? How you should engage in Halloween? If the “tooth fairy” should visit? We hope this resource helps you consider how to engage in these (and many other) traditions.

We even added discussion questions so you can talk with your spouse, podcast club, or friends at the playground. (And it has a handy printable!)