Weekly Meditation
And now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; and the greatest of these is love. (1 Corinthians 13:13)
You have surely heard the old joke that asks, "What if the hokey-pokey really is what it's all about?"
In contrast, I remember an old Sunday school song that does tell us what it's all about. Perhaps you are familiar with it as well. It goes,
Love, love, love, that's what it's all about.
God loves us, we love each other,
Mother, Father, Sister, Brother,
Everybody sing and shout, cuz that's what it's all about.
It's about love, love, love. It's about love, love, love.
Moses knew it was all about love when we brought the Hebrew people the Ten Commandments. The first four are about loving God and the last six are about loving others.
Jesus said as much when asked which is the greatest commandment. "You shall love God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength, and you shall love your neighbor as yourself."
And Paul did his best to convince the church at Corinth that love was greater than any other spiritual gift. Yes, the greatest gift of all is love.
As we have journeyed through Advent, each week we have lit one more candle in our Advent wreath. We have lit candles of hope, peace, and joy in the hopes that we, and the world, would be filled with each of these gifts come Christmas. Saving the best for last, this week we lit the candle of love and, in the words of the hymn by Christina Georgina Rossetti, "Love came down at Christmas."
Are you ready to receive the gift of love? This is the gift God has offered us in Jesus' birth and it is the gift God offers us each and every day. And in stark contrast to the world around us and its values, the more we give this gift away, the more love we will receive!
Love IS what it's all about. Love IS the greatest gift of all!
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