God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:8
There are a lot of messages about love these days. You hear it in music and greeting cards. You can hardly turn on the television without seeing an advertisement about love. Advertisers throw the word around rather loosely about their products.
Real love isn’t just a sweet sentiment; it is a commitment. It is an act of the will. God loved so much he was willing to demonstrate that love by sending his son to die for our sins.
The awareness of his love is heightened during the season of Advent, when we focus on sharing our love with family and friends. It seems easy to express love to those who will return it. That is not necessarily a bad thing, but this year our family is particularly aware of people who are struggling, and we find ourselves wanting to demonstrate the love of God to them. They may not see any other demonstration of God’s love except the spirit of the Christ that is in us.
Being aware of the needs of others was a specialty of Jesus. He knew what we needed before we ever had a chance to ask. He was a good listener. He listened not only with his ears, but also with his heart. He had compassion and knew that to sit back and wish people well was not enough. He knew that we could not pay for our own sins. He gave us a wonderful example of how to act on behalf of others.
He showed us that he cared. I believe we must follow his example and show others that we care. We don’t have to know them to want something good to happen to them. We know that prayer is always needed. It is one of the most loving things that we can do. We can pray for friends, family, enemies, acquaintances. We can pray for people we see out shopping with their children. We pray for disabled people we encounter. Perhaps God will put someone in your path today.
My prayer point is that you don’t need money to pray for someone, it is a powerful gift that we can give to show that we care. Look around you today and begin to demonstrate the love of Jesus. Provide a financial blessing or be of service in another way, if you can. Demonstrate your love–and God’s–to those around you.
If you feel that you can’t pray, we would love to pray for the person you have in mind. Send a request and caring volunteers will lift your prayer to the Lord. We care.
God bless you!
