An Advent List: 3 Ways to Practice LOVE

For God loved the world in this way: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life (John 3:16). 

The celebration of Christmas is the celebration of God’s love. The greatest way to celebrate that love is by loving others. Jesus said, “I give you a new command: Love one another. Just as I have loved you, you are also to love one another. By this, everyone will know that you are my disciples” (John 13:34-35).

It is a sad day when people call themselves followers of Jesus but their lives do not reflect God’s love for all people. Sometimes Christians are very good at loving people who look, act, think, and believe the same as them, but bad at loving people who are different. 

In John’s first letter, he says, “the one who does not love, does not know God, because God is love” (1 Jn. 4:8). I struggle with this sometimes because some people are not easy to love. And I am sure that there are times when I am not easy to love. 

As the fourth and final theme of advent, let's be reminded that our celebration of Christmas should sparkle with a thousand lights of love. 

3 Suggestions for LOVE

Here are my final three suggestions to help check our attitudes and reflect the Love of God through this special 2020 Christmas.

1. Who is my neighbour? Ask God to help you identify the blind spots in your love for others.  Who do you find most challenging to love?  Commit to praying every day that God would give you His eyes to see and His heart to love this person/people.
2. Love letter stocking stuffers. If your family has a tradition of putting out Christmas stockings, write a love letter to each member of your family and slip it into their stocking or hide it under their plate at Christmas dinner. Tell them how much you love them and why.
3. Love in Action. (Try one or more of the following)

• Depending on the COVID-19 rules in your area, find a creative way of demonstrating love to people in your community. 
• Give a Christmas gift to someone in need.
• Give a financial donation to a charity that is expressing the love of God to people in need.
• Love a stranger.  This can be an intentional act of kindness toward someone outside of your circle of relationships. 

This blog, which is the third in our Advent List series, has been written by Dr. Craig Kraft, the Executive Director of Outreach Canada.