We have the tendency to think the Christmas message is peace, but in Matthew 10:24, Jesus said, “Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword." Jesus knew that his life and death would always be controversial, that it would cause hatred between nations, between neighbors, even between families. We cannot be responsible for how the message is received. We can only be responsible for our response to those who don't want to receive the message and that response must be one of love. For Christ's message, an amazing tale, one that many find hard to believe, and the one we should be proclaiming this time of year, is a story of love. God sent his one and only son into the world so that we might live through him. Are we really proclaiming and showing his love this season, or are we caught up in the norms of society and forgetting the message to be loving?
Tuesday, December 24, 2013
1 John 4: Be Loving
Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 1 John 4:7-11 NIV
We have the tendency to think the Christmas message is peace, but in Matthew 10:24, Jesus said, “Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword." Jesus knew that his life and death would always be controversial, that it would cause hatred between nations, between neighbors, even between families. We cannot be responsible for how the message is received. We can only be responsible for our response to those who don't want to receive the message and that response must be one of love. For Christ's message, an amazing tale, one that many find hard to believe, and the one we should be proclaiming this time of year, is a story of love. God sent his one and only son into the world so that we might live through him. Are we really proclaiming and showing his love this season, or are we caught up in the norms of society and forgetting the message to be loving?
We have the tendency to think the Christmas message is peace, but in Matthew 10:24, Jesus said, “Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword." Jesus knew that his life and death would always be controversial, that it would cause hatred between nations, between neighbors, even between families. We cannot be responsible for how the message is received. We can only be responsible for our response to those who don't want to receive the message and that response must be one of love. For Christ's message, an amazing tale, one that many find hard to believe, and the one we should be proclaiming this time of year, is a story of love. God sent his one and only son into the world so that we might live through him. Are we really proclaiming and showing his love this season, or are we caught up in the norms of society and forgetting the message to be loving?
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