God's Gift of Love

“And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength. This is the first commandment.” Mark 12:30

When we commit to love the Lord with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength all of the other commands given to us fall in line with the first commandment. Our love for Him motivates us to follow His sacrificial example. As we move into the Christmas season, I pray that we will remember that the birth of Christ was the execution of God’s precious plan of salvation for us. If all God ever did for us was give us His Son, it was enough. He is worthy of our love and gratitude. Christmas is about more than family, gifts, and decorations. It’s the totality of God’s gift of love for us. Romans 5:8 tells us, “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Without the birth of Christ, we would not have His death, burial, and resurrection. Christ’s birth began the perfect plan of a sovereign God to reconcile us to Him through the cross. Let Christmas point you to the cross and the Savior who willingly gave His life so that we could have salvation.

Pastor Amber Clendenin