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By Scott Mims | Community Columnist

Let me ask you a question: Now that Christmas is over, are your decorations still up (provided that you decorate)?

There are two different mindsets when it comes to this sort of thing—one that says to leave the decorations up as long as possible, in a sense prolonging the Christmas “spirit” or mood, and another that says it’s necessary to take them down immediately because it is time to move on to the new year and whatever it has in store.

I must confess I am in the former camp. Our family loves the traditions of the holiday, and when Christmas is over we like to preserve the festive atmosphere until at least New Year’s Day if not longer. I believe part of the reason for this is that my wife gets a lot of happiness, and perhaps even stress relief, from all the decorations.

Regardless of whether you are like us or whether you think decorations are frivolous, this holds little weight in the grand scheme of things. What truly matters is not how you present your living room, but how you treat humanity. I believe the true spirit of Christmas is the spirit of giving, and of serving God and serving others.

Do you know of someone in need? If you are able to share your time, energy or physical resources, Christmas is not the only time you can help. I am not attempting to be “preachy” as I have a long way to go toward meeting this goal. I believe we could all do better to help meet the needs of our neighbors.

Let’s think about how we can prolong the spirit of Christmas this new year, in ways that are not as visible as decorations.