By the Way: Love that rules is totally committed to well being of other person

By Medicine Hat News on December 23, 2017.

You will be reading this a couple of days before Christmas. We will assume that if you celebrate the season, you are prepared for it in every way, and all stress-free!

And you are as excited as an eight-year old I know, who has been telling me for weeksÉ “Grandpa, I just can’t wait for December 25th!”

Too bad we lose that degree of enthusiasm. On the other hand, given the incredibly strange makeup of the world today, is it any wonder our traditions and values are stretched almost beyond belief?

Yet predictably — for one who works at being a follower of Jesus — my Christmas conviction for you to consider is that Love is the good news É Love rules É Love will see us through into the future God has prepared for us, individually and socially.

The entry of Jesus Christ into our world is proof, and God’s seal of approval on this divine project. The Welsh Anglican Bishop Rowan Williams writes that É “Christmas tells us exactly what Good Friday and Easter tell us; that God fulfils what he wants to do by emptying himself of his own life, giving away all that he is in love.”

The Bible’s book of John describes the nativity/the birth of Jesus in this way: “The Word (Jesus) became a human being and lived here with us.” Or in my favourite version (The Message), “The Word (Jesus) became flesh and blood and moved into the neighbourhood.”

Remember from your childhood, what a big deal it was when a new kid came into your school, maybe even lived on your street, or at least close enough to become your new best friend?

God has made this happen by sending Jesus to live with us.

This incredible gift we can receive at Christmas, or any time.

In spite of all we see and hear, Love prevails.

Not the free and easy self-gratification which our society calls “love.”

Nor even the sentimental version of love which we settle for in the baby-talk of a stable, sheep and shepherds, gifts and wise men.

The love that rules is totally committed to the well-being of the other person. It is strong without being powerful, and sensitive without being manipulated or taken in or taken down by the selfish desires of others.

Think of the love you find precious and dependable in your own relationships, in family and circles of friends É love that does not insist on its own way and holds out the truth to all people.

This is God’s Christmas love for us.

Of this I’m sure — in the 19th. century words of Christina Rossetti:

“Love came down at Christmas, love all lovely, love divine;

Love was born at Christmas; star and angels gave the sign.”

May you find such love this Christmas!

Bob Cruickshank is a retired Presbyterian minister living in Medicine Hat. He has been writing for “By the Way” since 2002. This is his final column. Thank you Medicine Hat News, and faithful readers.

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