Santa only has one love language: gifts. Some might argue that he specializes in acts of service, but let’s be real: He has a factory full of elves who work all year. Santa’s role is defined by children who expect to receive exactly what they order. They aren’t ordering love, genuine care, growth or long-lasting relationships. No, they order gadgets that distract from the gaping emotional holes in their lives.

However, Christians are given a gift that heals our holes. He saves us from ourselves, our sins and our distractions. Yet, ‘tis the season for placating deep needs and indulging in commercial orders that will only last until next year’s holiday specials.

So let’s talk Wal-Mart. This chain of super centers line their shelves with popular items that are fought over last minute by crazed customers strung out on caffeine, prowling for the final markdown. The joy of giving has lost its allure to competitive grandmas and Amazon. Amazon did not make the final cut for the top five love languages, because the deeper meaning of gift giving got thrown under a pile of clearance items.

Giving gifts with meaning

When the three Wise Men decided to follow the brightest star in the sky, they did not pick up the trendiest sheep-skin Snuggie at their latest convenience. No, in fact they took their time and carefully chose gold, frankincense and myrrh. The first Christmas gifts held reverential, personalized meaning. Gold was a gift from respected astronomers — the Einsteins of their day — to a King. Frankincense not only contained medicinal properties, but when burned, was believed to lift prayers to the heavens. Myrrh is the most thought-provoking of the three. As a salve, it was primarily a pain reliever. Mary was probably disappointed when this came a couple years too late. However, it was additionally used in the traditional Egyptian embalming process, and research shows that myrrh was one of the burial spices of Jesus.

Time and money are precious commodities in this fast-pace, cutthroat holiday season. There is only so much that can be spread so thin. The solution: Use both wisely. Make your gifts count for something meaningful. Choose to spend less time worrying and buying, and more time with those quality time love language-ers. Spend money on an actual need, not a fleeting want. Throw in an act of service just to shake things up a bit. No one will be complaining … unless they are under the age of 10. But by next year, they won’t even remember.

Christmas gift-giving was never intended to be obligatory. The wise men spent years studying the mysteries of the night sky, working to find the meaning of that bright star. They traveled for years in search of the Messiah. They brought gifts to show their gratitude and express their joy for the greatest gift of all. They poured themselves into their gifts, because they understood that gifts are a symbol of love. Loving that baby King meant pouring their time, energy and resources into something filled with deep meaning. Gifts are meant to mean something … and for everything else, there’s MasterCard.