“In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that He loved us and sent his Son to be the substitute / satisfaction for our sins.”
1 John 4:9-10 ESV
Unpacking this text this past Sunday at church wrecked me in a new way. What is ultimate love? Well we look to Jesus who set the ultimate example. Real love is unfair, unconditional, and unattainable for you & me. Only God is capable of perfect love because He IS love. When we display love to one another - that is God’s presence abiding in us. We are not capable of it on our own. That is a humbling fact: when I love someone well, it's really not me at all loving them - it is the essence of God in me that empowers me to do it.
The Creator or the cosmos is the same divine artist that takes care to make sure that each and every snowflake is different. In the same way, He intricately knots together each part inside that makes you YOU. We are the crown of Creation. He desperately wants to know us. So much so that He gave the ultimate gift of His only Son who was and is the ultimate essence of real love. No gift and no person on earth can compare to that ❤️
Let's build time in amidst the hustle of parties and the unwrapping of gifts to pause, pray, meditate, celebrate, and proclaim the lasting gift of Christmas by displaying real love. Let’s practice what it means to love radically - when it’s inconvenient and costly; when that love isn’t recognized or reciprocated. Who in your life needs to receive that? If you and I are worthy of it, then certainly everyone else is too.
Thank you Father God for sending Jesus your precious Son to put on flesh and blood and personify REAL LOVE when we could not. Thank you for taking our sin and filthiness, putting it on yourself, and making us pure & clean & worthy. I pray over every soul reading this now that they would feel your Spirit in by deep unexplainable sense of peace & belonging. Increase our capacity to extend!
Amen and Merry Christmas!