The season of Advent has come to be one of my favorite times of year.
I enjoy the anticipation, the traditions, and the focus on Hope, Peace, Joy, Love, and Light. Of these themes, Love stands apart. For it requires action in order to be fully seen and experienced.
“That’s because love is never stationary. In the end, love doesn’t just keep thinking about it or keep planning for it. Simply put: love does.”
-Bob Goff, Love Does: Discover a Secretly Incredible Life in an Ordinary World
A compassionate person at my core, I deeply desire to love others well. Lately, my meager attempt at love hasn’t seemed like enough to stave off the pain, health battles, broken marriages, loneliness, and overwhelm that people close to me are drowning from. It grieves me to feel so helpless. Some days I want to just give up. For I am wrung dry with nothing left to offer.
We were never meant to be enough or have enough to fix everything. Love came down from heaven to rescue us from our sins and make everything right again.
When I don’t know what to say or do, I will emulate Jesus and the people in my life who love fiercely. When I have nothing left to offer, I will choose to trust Jesus, who humbly came to be with us and lay down His life out of love for all. When I feel helpless, I will point others to the God who saves. No matter what, I will never give up doing what is good!
When we avert our eyes from all the negativity in our world and focus on compassion and kindness, it’s hard to doubt for another moment that God is at work.
“This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters…let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.”
– 1 John 3:16
