Every December, your porch eventually stops being covered in shipping boxes.
Right about then, some household appliance decides it’s had enough. It gives up the ghost. Maybe it’s the dishwasher. Maybe it’s the dryer. Maybe it’s the string of lights you swear worked yesterday, but now looks like it’s auditioning for the role of “dead space” in a sci-fi movie.
Yet, and here’s the magic: you still plug everything in, hang the garland, put on the Christmas playlist, and light the candles. Because somewhere deep down, even in the mess and the malfunction, you know: love is coming.
Christmas always has this way of breaking into our real lives. It doesn’t break in with tidy, Instagram moments. Instead, it breaks in with the “we’re doing our best out here” ones. And that’s been true since the very first Christmas.
John the Apostle tells the story of the nativity (John 1) without mention of mangers, shepherds, or starlit fields.
The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. John 1:14, NIV
John explains the nativity with cosmic poetry: “The Word became flesh” (John 1:14). God the Son steps into the world wearing skin. He shows up not as a distant ideal. Instead, He appears as a breathing, crying, vulnerable baby.
This is love. It’s not an abstract, theoretical, or sentimental emotion. The love of God is better.
His love moves in. His love draws near. His love refuses to stay distant while we sort out our lives.
And the best part? John says He came “full of grace and truth.” That mixture of tenderness, honesty, compassion, and clarity is what real, holy love looks like. Not soft and shapeless. Not harsh and distant. Whole. Complete. Healing.
Let’s be real. Most of us don’t need more theories about love. We need presence. We need someone to stand next to us when life is messy, complicated, or simply exhausting.
The love Jesus brings (and the love we’re called to live) looks like this:
- Showing up even when it’s inconvenient
- Listening when we’d rather give advice
- Choosing peace when everything feels tense
- Being patient in a season that runs on hurry
- Making space for the lonely, the hurting, the overlooked
Christmas invites us to do more than remember Jesus’ birth. It invites us to practice the life He brought with Him. We can practice a life shaped by love. It becomes flesh in ordinary moments. These moments include car rides, kitchen tables, last-minute store runs, and quiet prayers in the dark.
This week, as candles are lit and “O Holy Night” echoes through the speakers, let the love of Jesus draw you close. Let it spill out of you into the world that’s aching for something steady and real.
Jesus, thank You for stepping into our world with a love that doesn’t stay distant. Teach us to love like You: fully, freely, and fearlessly. Let Your presence shape our presence, and let Your nearness become our gift to others this Christmas. Amen.
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