Advent: Join the Triumphনমুনা

The Scripture:

"God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son. Anyone who believes in him will not die but will have eternal life" (John 3:16, NIRV).

The Story:

We all know there are different ways to love something. You don’t love nachos the way you love your mom. You don’t love your best friend like you love your favorite team. You may give your mom a hug, but I hope you don’t hug your nachos. You’d probably give something away for your best friend, but not for pizza. The Amazing News of Christmas is, God loves us so much He would give His One and Only Son to die for us!

To give something is to sacrifice something, and that is a big deal. We all have a lot to do, from school to family to church to hobbies, we all have things going on. So, sacrificing time is a big deal. There’s always stuff to pay for, so sacrificing money is a big deal. Sacrificing time or money is a big deal. Sacrificing your way to help someone else is huge.

Yet all of this is because we love people. I’d love to pay for someone’s lunch so I could love them. I would love to be late to class so I can help pick up someone’s books they dropped. Love is why we sacrifice, and we learn this from Jesus, who doesn’t just throw money at us, or sacrifice time to teach us a few things. Jesus sacrifices His whole Life. He leaves Heaven, is born a Baby, chooses God’s Way every single moment of every single day, and then finally dies for us. There is no Greater Love than that.

We are called to love God and love people, so what are you sacrificing? What are you giving away so you can love? We see that Jesus gave everything, and God is calling us to give something, whether that’s giving up sleep to wake up early and read your Bible, or giving up being a starter on your team because you miss every Sunday for church, or sacrificing your popularity by sitting with the kid no one likes. All of these things are ways we can love God and love others. It’s not easy, but we can look to Jesus who loves us first.

The Triumph:

Christmas is the celebration that God loves us. He’s not just okay with us. He really loves us, and He proved it by giving His One and Only Son so we can be Friends with God again. How can you love someone this Christmas season? How can you live like Jesus? God loves us now, how can we love others?