“Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God.” 1 John 4:7
What is it about Christmas time that makes us think of love? Is it families gathering? Engagements happening? Is it watching the excitement of children?
“In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us.” 1 John 4:10-12
God loved us so much that He had His son, His one and only son to be born and to be our Savior. Webster says that propitiation is ‘the act of gaining or regaining the favor or goodwill of someone or something’. We needed Jesus in order to regain the favor of God. We have no comprehension of the kind of love God has to have for us to have sent Jesus. I have a lot of people I love a lot. But I wouldn’t want to sacrifice either one of my sons for them. If we even try to comprehend that love then we will have no choice but to love others. You see Love is the one thing that when used, when practiced, when showered on other people, you can’t use it up, it actually multiplies!
At Christmastime and all the time really God’s love for us is the center of our faith! The love God had for us is manifested in the love we have for others. That’s what perfects our love. And I’m not talking about just those people that are easy to love. We all have people in our life that are not so easy to love. But when you are abiding in the love that God has for you, it is possible to love even the unlovely. Take the extra step this Christmas, even if you have to ask God to help you to love that person that maybe is not the easiest to love in your life.
“Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God and God abides in him.” 1 John 4:15-16
I pray that you are abiding in the love God has for you. I pray that as we focus this week on the baby in the manger that love in our hearts will overflow to others.
Restore 