“This is real love—not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins.” 1 John 4:10

The last week of Advent calls us to experience the Love of Christ. Hopefully, you’ve already begun experiencing love this Christmas season – the love that comes from family and friends as we tell each other how much it means to us that we live in such a community of people who are devoted to each other and the good of all. Isn’t that why we do all the get-togethers and parties and presents? To express our feelings to those we love in concrete ways?

But according to Dallas Willard, there is a different measure of love and Christian maturity: “The main test for Christlike character is whether one spontaneously responds to one’s enemies with love.” So while we should certainly soak in all the love from our loved ones, how do we show love to our enemies this Christmas? Well, we can begin by observing that Christ’s first advent was one of enemy-love. If we are ever wondering how far we should go in loving our enemies, Jesus gives us a very uncomfortable and concrete answer: “all the way.”

May we experience the love of Jesus, the kind of love that is not dependent on our ability to be worthy of his love. And then let us show that kind of love to all those around us.

Reading and Learning

READ: Luke 2:1-20

READ: Psalm 103

READ: Jeremiah 31:1-6

READ: Matthew 18:21-35

READ: Romans 5:6-11

WATCH: The Bible Project on Love

Music

LISTEN: “Love Came Down at Christmas”

LISTEN: “Noel” by Lauren Daigle

LISTEN: “Unto Us” by Paul Zach

LISTEN: “O Holy Night” by Josh Garrels

Practice

Find a quiet place and come to quiet in your mind and your heart. Remove distractions. Use a paper journal to write down your experiences during this practice.

In prayer, enter a conversation with God about anything inside of you or outside of you that is in opposition to his peace.

• Reflect on how God pursued you before you made the decision to follow him. What evidence do you see in your own life that “while you were still a sinner, Christ died for you?”
• Ask God for guidance on how best you can love your family and friends this Christmas season.
• Are you having a hard time loving someone? Ask God to show you how you have been forgiven for something similar to what they have done to you. Ask for the strength to forgive.
• Meditate on the following phrase: “Jesus, thank you for loving me when I didn’t deserve your love.“