Christmas

The love of God is a sacrificial love. It is a love that is willing to pay a price for the benefit of the one being loved. "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life" (John 3:16, NASB). God's Son was the Word that became flesh (John 1:1, 14). God chose Mary, a virgin, to conceive by the Holy Spirit. At the appropriate time she bore a Son, who was named Jesus, who would save His people from their sins (Matthew 1:20 - 23). He who knew no sin became sin on our behalf as he gave his life on the cross, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him (2 Cor. 5:21).

Christmas is a remembrance of this birth, of this divine appointment with humanity, to meet a desperate need of humankind. Remembrance of this birth should cause us to pause and reflect on all that Jesus has done for us and means to us. It should be a time to give thanks and to give praise and to worship him as our Lord and Savior, but somehow it seems to be more important to spend time, energy and resources to give gifts to one another.

As you receive gifts this Christmas I want you to consider a question. Did the money spent on your gifts benefit you more than it would have benefited the children who are dying from sickness and hunger in many parts of the world? Have you considered that the gifts you received may have been at the expense of someone's life. My personal view is to forgo the exchange of gifts and instead invest in the lives of those who can truly be helped. That is what God did.