I do not celebrate Thanksgiving. Why may you ask?

New England colonists were used to celebrating Thanksgiving on a regular basis. They would give thanks to God for blessings. For example, they would thank God for military victory.

There is nothing wrong with thanking God for things he provides for us or for spending time with our family and friends. Jehovah God originated the family so; of course he wants us to have a relationship with our relatives. However, Thanksgiving is a national holiday and has its origin.

Romans 12:2 states: And stop being molded by this system of things, but be transformed by making your mind over, so that you may prove to yourselves the good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

Jesus said his followers should be no part of this world. (John 15:19) This does not mean to avoid everything that everybody does, but rather see things from God's point of view. Seeing things from God’s point of view means to study and find out where things originated from to keep our worship pure.

Thanksgiving, along with other holidays, has roots in religious practices that do not originate from the Bible. Revelation 18:4 illustrates to "flee from false religion" or in other words anything that is not based in the Bible. From the very beginning God has required that his followers keep free from any false religious practices. (Judges 10:6, 7)

I want to be molded by God’s way of thinking not the world’s way of thinking. By celebrating Thanksgiving I would not be viewing God’s viewpoint on the matter.

I don’t set aside one day to give thanks. I set aside time every day to give thanks to God. Jehovah God, the Creator of all things, deserves thanks every day for everything he provides on a daily basis for us.

I do respect people’s beliefs but after close and deep study of the Bible we, Jehovah’s Witnesses, have come to the conclusion that God wants us to stay free from these things.

- Kristina