“At this Christmas when Christ comes, will He find a warm heart? Mark the season of Advent by loving and serving the others with God’s own love and concern.” ~ St. Teresa of Calcutta)
Will I get my fishing pole? Will I get my walkie talkie? Will I get my bicycle? Will I get, will I get, will I get? These questions run through the mind of every child and, for that matter, through the minds of most people as Christmas approaches. One of the things about Christmas, after all, is the giving and receiving of gifts.
In speaking about “gift”, there is a popular saying, “What you are is God’s gift to you. What you become is your gift to God.” Did you ever think about God’s desire for gifts? As we long for many things here on earth, have you ever thought about what God might want? “Will he love me? Will she serve me? Will he accept my will for his life? Will they dedicate themselves to one another to reflect my love for the world?” If you think about it, those could easily be on God’s wish list.
Will Christ find a warm heart? Will He see us loving and serving one another with His own love and concern? Are we willing to take the extra steps, to go out of our way, to help anyone in need? Too often, we qualify whom we will help. We may have a whole list of disqualifiers, shying away from certain people or from certain groups of people.
God doesn’t want us to put limits on our love just as He does not limit His love. He loves us completely and unconditionally. The best way to mark the season of Advent is to try to do the same. That would be the best gift that we could give to our God.
FAITH ACTION: Try to love without condition and without expectation of any kind of return.