Lovin’ Christmas
It’s Christmastime. It’s my favorite time of the year. I love everything about it: the lights, carols, food, and the tree my son helped decorate that has several ornaments hung on the same branches. We’ll call it “cluster decorating.” Who knows, it could become the next new thing.
More than these, I love that humankind collectively decides to be kind. It’s like once Thanksgiving rolls around, we all switch modes automatically. We take extra pains to be kind. It’s beautiful, and I love it. It’s a world I wish we lived in all the time.
I’m inspired by every act of kindness. Already this season, my coffee has been paid for twice, and I’ve paid for others. I’ve seen posts detailing how misplaced this action is, but I don’t care. It’s a way coffee lovers show kindness, and I think it is heavenly (by all means, leave big tips, too! Do all the things!).
In the midst of all the majesty of this season is the human birth of Jesus– Love Incarnate. I can’t help but think how perfectly love and kindness, a couple of the fruit of the Spirit from Galatians we’ve been looking at, go together.
“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control” (Galatians 5:22-23).
The argument can probably be made that love is at the core of each of these, really. We have peace because of God’s love for us. We can be patient and grow our faithfulness, only because of God’s love for us. Every single good thing we can experience or enact is because of God’s love for us.
I think theologians sometimes make this complicated. But I’m not sure it is. God loves us. The end. Period. There are no ifs, ands, or buts. His immeasurable love for us is made manifest in Jesus' birth.
John 3:16 puts it plainly: “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son, that whoever believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.”
God sent us Jesus because he loves us. He loves us so much, he did us an unquantifiable kindness: He sent us Jesus, as a human baby, to save us.
My son and I play a little bedtime game of who loves whom the most. I’ll say something like, “I love you taller than a pine tree.” He’ll respond (in a very serious, competitive tone), “Well, I love you bigger than Jupiter.” I’ll answer with something like, “Well, I love you more than there are grains of sand in the whole world.” He’ll inevitably get down to the level of molecules: “Well, I love you more than all the molecules in all the oceans combined.” He almost always wins (in fact, he won’t stop until he wins, so my conceding is really a given).
While he does love me, this game is more about his beating me than expressing his love. Still, I look forward to it. There is something about being told I am loved more than anything that just brings me joy.
God’s done that for us collectively already in a big way: Jesus, God incarnate. Emmanuel, God with us.
But he also does that for me every day in a thousand different ways. Sometimes I see them, and sometimes I don’t, but here are some personal “I love you” messages from God I’ve been noticing lately.
My husband did dishes (my chore) for me this weekend while I was sick. He checked on me, brought me soup, and took care of all the things that needed to be done.
My son, Micah, ran to hug me when I was officially declared non-contagious. Hubby was waiting with kisses as well.
My friend gave Micah money to spend on a field trip because he’d had a good week at school (I was planning on buying him something, but he felt so special to receive this unexpected recognition, and it warmed my heart).
Micah’s piano teacher has shared her experiences raising her son, who is very similar to mine, and it has been so encouraging.
Micah’s teacher sent a text to let me know he had a good day and she was proud of him. I beamed.
My bible study group prayed for a procedure Micah had and remembered to ask how it had gone.
Micah’s occupational therapist helped prepare him for that procedure, and it went so smoothly.
My coworker sent me a letter sharing how much she appreciated working with me.
One of our administrators fielded a call from a parent who was somewhat upset, and even though this administrator didn’t know the situation, she assumed the best of me and assured the parent she could trust me and that I would help her daughter (which I did, of course).
My father-in-law picked up and watched my son on each of his three half-days this week while my husband and I worked. We didn’t have to scramble for childcare.
My mom offered to come stay with me/us while I was sick to help with Christmas plans.
My pastor shared with a group of us some of his own vulnerability and struggles, and knowing his continued faith despite his hard situation was so reassuring.
There was so much more than this, even: Words that I read, messages from the pulpit, and even songs on the radio.
Every single one, though, reminded me I was loved. I could have just left it at “that one person loves me, cool.” But I know God works through people. Because James writes that “every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the father of the heavenly lights” (1:17), I feel comfortable recognizing the love of each of these people as more than just their love for me. Each one was also God showing me in a personal, individual way that He loves me. Me. Not just all of mankind, but me, Nikki.
And, he’s done this through the kindness of others.
God loves to love people through his people.
Jesus tells his disciples in John 13:34-35, “A new commandment I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you also must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are My disciples, if you love one another.”
See, the love of God isn’t so complicated. He loves us. He commands us to love others. We are being like him and showing we are His when we love others.
Being kind is a pretty good way to start showing that love and to allow God to show His love to others through you.
If we can all get really good at that, it might just feel like Christmas every day.
