{"id":40163,"date":"2016-12-26T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2016-12-26T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/preaching\/sermon-illustrations\/family-creatively-admits-defeat-to-neighbors-christmas-deco\/"},"modified":"2016-12-26T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2016-12-26T00:00:00","slug":"family-creatively-admits-defeat-to-neighbors-christmas-deco","status":"publish","type":"sermon-illustrations","link":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/preaching\/sermon-illustrations\/family-creatively-admits-defeat-to-neighbors-christmas-deco\/","title":{"rendered":"Family Creatively Admits Defeat to Neighbors&#8217; Christmas Decorations"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Every year around the Thanksgiving holiday, families across the country begin decorating their homes (inside and out) with Christmas decorations. For some, it is a cherished family tradition. For others, it takes a more competitive tone. Classic films like <em class=\"citation\">National Lampoon&#39;s Christmas Vacation<\/em> have captured the competitive spirit that can settle in between neighbors about who has the &quot;best&quot; decorations or light display. The result often is a string of outrageously bright homes that seem to demonstrate the spirit of American capitalism more than the spirit of Christmas.<\/p>\n\n<p>This year, however, one family decided to cut off the competition&mdash;before it even started. Jami Kelly, of suburban Detroit, said her family began to put up outdoor decorations, but quickly became discouraged at the extravagance of her neighbor&#39;s display. &quot;Nothing measures up,&quot; she remembered thinking. So, instead of trying to outdo her neighbor and adding more stress to the holiday season, Kelly grabbed a piece of plywood and a few sets of white lights. She weaved them together to form a bright arrow pointing to her neighbor&#39;s home. Then, above the arrow, she spelled out in charming white lights: &quot;Ditto.&quot;<\/p>\n\n<p><em>Potential Preaching Angles: Sometimes it&#39;s easier to give up and let someone else get the credit&mdash;a lesson that&#39;s especially appropriate at Christmas.<\/em><\/p>","protected":false},"author":30,"featured_media":0,"template":"","tax_ctp_audience":[],"tax_ctp_authors":[],"tax_ctp_categories":[165],"tax_ctp_format":[171],"tax_ctp_illustration_types":[411],"tax_ctp_multimedia":[],"tax_ctp_point_editor":[],"tax_publications":[140],"tax_ctp_tags":[3387,3451,3583,3600,3648,3650,4085,4141,4153,4535,4546,4626,4701,5071,5278],"tax_ctp_topics":[395],"class_list":["post-40163","sermon-illustrations","type-sermon-illustrations","status-publish","hentry","tax_publications-ct-pastors","tax_ctp_tags-advent","tax_ctp_tags-atonement","tax_ctp_tags-christ-our-righteousness","tax_ctp_tags-christmas","tax_ctp_tags-compassion","tax_ctp_tags-competition","tax_ctp_tags-gospel","tax_ctp_tags-help-from-god","tax_ctp_tags-holidays","tax_ctp_tags-neighbor","tax_ctp_tags-news-that-illustrates","tax_ctp_tags-performance","tax_ctp_tags-pressure","tax_ctp_tags-standards","tax_ctp_tags-winning-losing"],"acf":{"scripture_references":[{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null}]},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v22.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Family Creatively Admits Defeat to Neighbors&#039; Christmas Decorations - CT Pastors<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/preaching\/sermon-illustrations\/family-creatively-admits-defeat-to-neighbors-christmas-deco\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Family Creatively Admits Defeat to Neighbors&#039; Christmas Decorations - CT Pastors\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Every year around the Thanksgiving holiday, families across the country begin decorating their homes (inside and out) with Christmas decorations. 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