1 Corinthians 13:4-8
4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
8 Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away.
God is love. Paul’s letter to the Corinthians gives us some details about what love is and isn’t. Perhaps the best word we can give love is humble. God so loved the world that He humbled himself into a helpless baby. To me, that is what Christmas is truly about. A love so strong that the most powerful entity humbled itself to be born. But, the humbling wasn’t complete until he could choose to die the most humbling of deaths after the most humble of births.
The story of God is one of a love so strong that He humbles himself. If that is our example of love then how do we follow it? Do we get married for the other person or ourselves? Do we sacrifice for others to eat and sleep and be warm? Do we look to this season for the gifts we get to humbly give or proudly get?
Perhaps a little more humility for the next year might better communicate our love. That message is as much to me as anyone else.