The Greatest Gift

“My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world” (1 John 2:1-2).

God commands us to obey Him. If we do not keep His commands, He has the ability to forgive us. It is either obey or confess, and He has made provision for both.

Christmas is coming up soon. We can think of it as a time of giving or as a time of getting. The basic expression of love is giving. The basic expression of selfishness is getting. If you think of everyone according to God’s commands, we are to love the Father, we are to love our neighbors, we are to love the brothers, we are to love our enemies—and the conclusion is that we are to give to these people we love. We are to give for whatever is the highest good of the person we are giving to. We are not to give in order to get; we give because they need what we are giving. This is love.

So as we think of Christmas, think of Jesus Christ who was the greatest gift to all of us, and give in terms of that.

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Roots by the River

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