from Love Is a Verb, by Christina Cannon.

The last of the four themes of Advent is the most powerful of all, LOVE.  It is a Love that transforms the hearts of His children.  We did not earn it; it was freely given.  It is His love in Action!

God’s love for us is first expressed through Jesus coming to earth as a baby.

Matthew 1:21-23 ESV

“She will give birth to a son, and you are to give Him the name Jesus, because He will save His people from their sins.” All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call Him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”).

Christmas is the celebration of Jesus’ birth.  The reason we celebrate is to acknowledge the rest of the story.  We cannot remember the one without remembering the other.  We celebrate the gift that leads us to salvation.

God expressed His love, in action, for us with the gift of Jesus so that we would choose Him.  Love is a verb that requires a response.  Love is action in its nature.  It is God’s nature to love us unconditionally.

When we celebrate Christmas, we must acknowledge that we were pardoned and given the best gift of all: our salvation.

We were given a great gift. A gift that, when accepted, will change the course of our lives.

May we celebrate the gift and the gift giver every day.  It is not just a once-a-year celebration; it’s an everyday posture of the heart.

The Christmas wreath with all of its four themed candles is only complete with the center candle. The middle candle, called the Christ candle, is white to represent the purity of the Lamb of God.

John 1:29b ESV

“Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!”

The Christ candle represents the light that the Son brought into the world when He was born a little baby, God in the flesh. He was the very light of God, come into the world.

John 1:1:4-5

“In him was life, and this life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”

I pray that as you celebrate Christmas today,  you celebrate the Lamb who pardoned your sins and gave you the gift of salvation.

For additional reading on Love for Christmas, check out the HBH blog post at

https://heartsbeinghealed.org/love-2/

If you haven’t read our Advent blogs this month on Hope, Peace, Joy, and Love, you can access them all on our website https://heartsbeinghealed.org/category/blog/

Psalms 33:20-22 ESV

“We wait in hope for the Lord; He is our and our shield.  In Him our hearts rejoice, for we trust in His holy name.  May Your unfailing love be with us, Lord, even as we put our hope in You.”

May your Christmas be filled with the love of family and friends, but most of all, your love for Jesus.

1 John 3:18 ESV

“Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.”

(Some Admin edits were made with Christina Cannon’s permission.)