“Live a life filled with love for others, following the example of Christ, who loved you and gave himself as a sacrifice to take away your sins.” Eph. 5:2
Christmas time...what a wonderful, blessed, cherished time of year...that is if we slow down enough to realize what this season is truly all about.
It’s a fact, “EVERYBODY WANTS TO LOVE...EVERYBODY WANTS TO BE LOVED”, and it’s also a fact that loving the way Jesus calls us to love is only possible by loving Him with all our heart, soul, mind and strength. Mk. 12:30-31 (When we do this, He empowers us to love others and His love flows through us to others...otherwise, we are merely loving by our limited human strength and understanding.)
When we feel loved by another, it’s because that someone is generally giving us:
- their time and attention
- their appreciation and listening ear
- their honor and trust
- They show us that they value us and are thankful for us.
- They genuinely care about the things that concern us.
- They discern our “love language” (physical touch, words of praise and affirmation, acts of service, gifts, etc.), and trying to love us according to it (as opposed to loving us according to their own “love language”).
2 Cor. 13:5 tells us to examine and test ourselves. So, with this partial list, let’s examine and test ourselves in the area of loving others.
Picture someone in your mind right now. ~Got that person envisioned?
Question: Is my life right now characterized by love for him/her (following Christ’s sacrificial example) OR is my life right now characterized by my scurrying around trying to make things “perfect” by Christmas, and in the process, neglecting those I love most?
Check out this short song by Ingrid Michaelson: “Everybody”... It’ll make make you smile!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?
Let’s simplify our lives a bit and re-discover the true meaning of love this season, then ask ourselves, “Where can I ‘step up the love’ a bit?”
God bless you!
Shaun and Betsy
