Fourth Week of Advent - Love

The theme of the fourth week of Advent is Love. Love plays a vital role in the Christmas story. Jesus focused on preaching love throughout his ministry. Two of his greatest commands involve love: Love God, love your neighbor (Matthew 22:36-40) 

Love is the greatest of all the virtues of Advent and encompasses Jesus’ entire purpose for being on earth (1 Corinthians 13:13). The Bible has a lot to say about love. Depending on your translation, the word appears 100-300 times throughout Scripture. It makes sense. God is love (1 John 4). They know we are Christians by our love (1 Corinthians 13:1). Love sacrificed Jesus’ son for our sins.  1 Corinthians 13:4-7 alone tallies off a number of characteristics of love: it’s patient, kind, it does not envy, etc. 

We cannot walk with Christ without love, and we cannot have the Christmas story without it. 

Excerpted from Christianity.com Read more here.

Prayer of Love

The greatest gift of all came that first Christmas. It wasn’t wrapped in a beautiful package and set under a decorated tree. The greatest gift came wrapped in the flesh of baby Jesus and laid in the rough wood of a manger. Our perfect gift would later be rewrapped in the scars of our sin and nailed to the rugged wood of a cross on Calvary, all because of love.

Father, this final week of Advent, fill our hearts and minds with the significance of that truth. Thank you, Lord, for loving us enough to send Jesus. In Jesus’ precious name we pray. Amen