Cade (looking very distraught): Mommy, I just didn’t want to tell you that I did that on Christmas. You’re not supposed to do bad stuff on Christmas!

Me: I know, Buddy. I always want Christmas to be a perfect day, and then my sin messes it up, too. Did you hear me grumping at Daddy earlier, saying, “Why aren’t you helping me?” (He had.) I can’t ever seem to make Christmas a perfect day. But Christmas happened because we don’t have perfect days! It’s because of our sin that Jesus came.  

Cade: Couldn’t God just forgive us for the bad stuff? Why did he have to send Jesus?

Me: Well, let’s say you punched Papaw in the nose. Would it be right for Papaw to say, “Oh, that’s ok.” And then, say you punched Papaw again. And he said again, “Oh, that’s ok.” Over and over this happened. Would Papaw be doing the right thing?

Cade: No.

Me: And God wouldn’t be doing the right thing either, if he said, “Oh, that’s ok,” to our sin. He sent Jesus on Christmas so that we could have Easter. What happened on Easter?

Cade: Jesus died for our sin.

Me: Yup. We do bad stuff—sin—every day. Even on Christmas. But without Christmas, we’d be stuck in our sin, with no way to be forgiven.

Cade: I’m glad we have Christmas.