Christmas is one of those times where we get great opportunities to shine for Christ and bring the message of God's love to all men. However, it's also one of those times during the year when Christians can be so un-Christlike with their words and their actions.

That said, we should all be careful about what we say and do during the Christmas season. In fact, we should always be careful to protect our testimony before others, because our lives speak more than our words could say.

To help all of us keep a God-glorifying testimony before others, here are three ways we Christians can be very un-Christlike during Christmas. Let's do our best to avoid doing these.

1) Focusing on gifts, and forgetting Jesus

Many of us associate Christmas with gifts, forgetting the birthday Celebrant Himself. Well, December 25 may not be the exact date of Jesus' birth, but that doesn't really matter. What matters is that He came here and saved us, and we should all be very, very grateful for that.

Many Christians, however, just keep focusing on what gift they'll receive come Christmas. Some, like kids deprived of that candy cane during Christmas eve, even sulk or get angry when they don't get what they want. Let's not be like that (see 1 Corinthians 13:11). Let's be grateful that God sent His one and only Son as His provision for our salvation.

2) Skipping the Christmas service and focusing on parties instead

Some Christians, thinking of enjoying the holiday cheer and wanting to go and have fun with family and friends, spend so much time on Christmas parties they forget to come to thank God during the Christmas service at church.

While the whole city of Jerusalem was busy with its census, away in an unlikely place lay the Saviour of the world. Angels celebrated His arrival on earth and announced the glorious coming to shepherds busy doing their own thing. Coming quickly, these shepherds then saw with their eyes the face of God's love in the form of a child wrapped in swaddling clothes and tucked in a manger. (see Luke 2:1-20)

The parties around us may be fun, but the joy of coming together to remind ourselves of God's love in Christ far outweighs any Christmas party anywhere.

3) Doing wrong things during Christmas parties

Lastly, if ever we do attend Christmas parties, let's do our best to behave in a Godly way. This means NOT doing anything that tarnishes our testimony before others.

Some of us get carried away during Christmas parties, whether in the workplace or in the neighborhood, that we carelessly do things unbecoming of a Christ-follower. We get drunk, engage in rude or disorderly behavior, and even join in worthless and meaningless chatter that could contain unwholesome talk. Yes, that's when we fail to guard our hearts, bridle our tongues, and watch what we do.

Friends, let's just avoid circumstances where we could be backed into a corner and be tempted to compromise. (see 1 Peter 4:1-3)