Thank you for your question. As you know, Santa Claus is not real. He is a mythical figure based on a real person. A bishop named Saint Nicholas of Myra was a real person who lived in Turkey during the 4th century. His parents left him an inheritance when they died, which Nicholas distributed to the poor. He was known for his generosity and secret gift-giving.

The legend of Santa Claus pretends that a jolly old man with a white beard lives at the North Pole. Elves also live at the North Pole and make the toys. Santa delivers the toys to the homes of good boys and girls on the night of December 24th by flying through the air in a sleigh pulled by reindeer.

There may be as many opinions about your question as there are readers of this answer. However, our purpose is to give answers from the book, God’s Word. We read in Ephesians 4:25, “Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbor: for we are members one of another.” Proverbs 13:5 states, “A righteous man hates lying: but a wicked man is loathsome, and comes to shame.”

In Proverbs 6:16-19, we learn about things that the Lord hates. These verses state, “These six things does the LORD hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him: A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, An heart that devises wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief, A false witness that speaks lies, and he that sows discord among brethren.”

Although it is very unpopular to say it, these verses make it plain that it is a terrible thing to purposely deceive our children into believing that Santa Claus is real. It is a terrible thing every time that we tell a lie, even one that is entirely socially acceptable to tell. As Christians, God calls us to follow His Word, even though it will mean living our lives differently than most of the people around us. Since one of the titles of our Savior is “the truth” (John 14:6), we know that truth is very important to God. We do not want to confuse our children by teaching them that it is permissible to lie sometimes and not other times.

I would like to suggest that Santa Claus can be turned into a positive thing. Since our children will hear about Santa Claus anyway, we can teach them the truth about who he is and the real person on which he is based. If parents are comfortable with it, they can permit the story of Santa Claus to be a fun part of the Christmas holiday season. We can encourage our children to follow Saint Nicholas’s example and be generous in giving gifts to others.

Our children have many friends and classmates who have been taught by their parents to believe in Santa Claus. We can encourage our children not to announce to the whole class the truth about Santa Claus. Our kids can know the truth without devastating the other kids and angering their friends’ parents. Our children are not lying if they simply do not discuss that topic with their friends.

As parents we should spend much more time teaching our children about the real reason for the Christmas season. God the Father sent His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, to this earth as a baby so that He could grow up and die on the cross for our sins. God the Father gave us a wonderful example of giving gifts by giving his only Son for us. We read in 2 Corinthians 9:15 (NASB), “Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!”

Be sure to also teach your children that all those who repent of their sins and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ as their Savior will be given the gift of eternal life. I think we can agree that sharing the gospel with our children is more important than whether parents tell their kids that there is a Santa Claus or not. Let us show grace with others who do not agree with our viewpoint on the Santa Claus issue. This should not be something that divides Christians or creates hard feelings.

I grew up in a home where I was taught to believe in Santa Claus, but my parents also shared the gospel with me. As you can see from what I have written, my wife and I decided not to teach our kids that Santa is real. However, I do not feel scarred from my childhood. I know that my parents were simply trying to make Christmas more fun, and I have no hard feelings towards them for doing that. I am thankful that I was raised in a family that placed much more emphasis on our Savior than on Santa Claus.  (DJ)  (662.6)