Tuesday, December 19, 2023
Dear friends, let us love one another, because love is from God, and everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 The one who does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9 God’s love was revealed among us[b] in this way: God sent his one and only Son into the world so that we might live through him. 10 Love consists in this: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice[c] for our sins. 11 Dear friends, if God loved us in this way, we also must love one another. 1 John 4:7-11.
Ready, Set, Love by Kerry Patton
This week's focus for advent is love. This time of the year we are so busy and our calendars are so full that often we neglect the people in our lives. We can also become grumpy and irritated with all the hustle and bustle, crowds and crazy shoppers. We can become consumed with making Christmas “perfect” or buying the “perfect” gift that we snap and growl at those around us. Jesus did give us a simple command in I John 4:7-11 but it is complex to carry out at times.
Love one another. How simple could instructions be? “Here. This is what I want you to do. Go love one another. Ready…go!” Yet, because of our humanity, loving one another can seem so very difficult. The circumstances of living, coping with other people’s personalities, dealing with their decisions, their fractures and flaws, reacting to their own behavior…each of these can make loving as God loves very difficult.
Yet in truth, that is exactly what God has done for us. He didn’t wait for us to change or get our lives in order before he loved us. Romans 5:8 says that “while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” While we were yet sinners. Let that soak in for a moment.
Your sin. My sin. The sins of all of humanity. Our heavenly Father took all of it into consideration; and yet his love for us all was so powerful that he looked passed our unworthiness, and gave his only begotten son Jesus anyway.
We are challenged to love…love with God’s love. Whomever life brings across our path, find a way to love them, because God loved us. And God loves them. In loving others, the love of God is revealed in us; and the purpose of God giving his son for us is realized.
This Christmas season I challenge you to love not only those special people in your life but to love the unlovable as well. Remember that God loves us when we are unlovable, and He sent His son into this world so many Christmases ago, born as a tiny baby, to die one day for our sins, because God loved us. Spread His love, obey His command.
