[The Words of Advent] LOVEনমুনা

Christ Inspires Us to Love

As humans, we are often inspired by what we see is possible. When someone else does something that hints at what could be, many of us hop on the bandwagon to go beyond what we initially thought of as a limitation. That is the case with Jesus. He is our inspiration to love beyond what we thought was possible.

In his first letter, the apostle John calls the believers “beloved” five times. This begs the question; do we know who we are? Do we understand what God did for us in Jesus Christ? John understands it so well that he can look at each one of us and say, “You are the beloved of God. What Jesus Christ has done proves that you are the beloved of the God of the universe.”

John goes on to say that since God loved us so much, then we cannot help but love. If we understand that we are the beloved of God, then that love is going to fill us so fully that it will pour out of us onto others.

Christmas is so great because by sending His only begotten Son, God made His love visible. Jesus is the grand expression of God’s love. As the atoning sacrifice for our sins, He made clear to us that we are His beloved. Because of what Christ has done, we cannot help but love one another. And Jesus said that everyone would know that we are His disciples by our love for one another. That is the mark of a Christian; we are the ones who love others.

The writer of Hebrews encourages us to consider how to spur one another to love and do good deeds. We can do something for our neighbors that says to them, “We’re thinking about you. We love you. We’re praying for you.” We can encourage them to do the same for another family, perhaps anonymously. Imagine the amazing number of families that could know that they are loved and blessed and prayed for by these gestures of love!

Father, give us the profound spiritual experience of discovering ourselves as Your beloved children. Give us new eyes to see that other people are as beloved as we are, and fill us with Your love to pour it out on those around us.

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