Want to keep Christ in Christmas? Feed the hungry, clothe the naked, forgive the guilty, welcome the unwanted, care for the ill, love your enemies, and do unto others as you would have done unto you.

Steve Maraboli is a contemporary motivational writer whose aphoristic quotes circulate widely online, often reframing ethical or spiritual ideas in practical, action-oriented terms. This line appears in that vein: it responds to modern cultural debates about “keeping Christ in Christmas” by shifting attention away from slogans, symbols, or consumer ritual and toward the moral imperatives associated with Jesus’ teachings. The phrasing echoes well-known New Testament themes—charity, mercy, hospitality, care for the sick, love of enemies, and the Golden Rule—suggesting the quote was crafted as a devotional or social-media style reminder that Christian identity is demonstrated through conduct, especially during the Christmas season.

The quote argues that the essence of Christmas, understood as honoring Christ, is not preserved by public displays or verbal insistence but by practicing the works of compassion and reconciliation central to the Gospels. Each clause functions as a concrete ethical test: feeding, clothing, forgiving, welcoming, caring, and loving even adversaries. By ending with the Golden Rule, it frames these acts as universally intelligible moral reciprocity rather than sectarian boundary-marking. The overall significance is a critique of performative religiosity and a call to embody faith through service—suggesting that “keeping Christ” is less about cultural ownership of a holiday and more about imitating Christ’s example.