(ADVENT 23) Unwrapping Christmas: Love for God and Others

During the Christmas season, we celebrate the love of God. He loved us so much that He sent His Son so that through His love, he laid down His life, and gives us the capacity to love God - and because we love Him, our hearts are full of love for Him and those whom He has created. 1st Peter chapter 1 states, in light of the implications of the salvation Jesus has provided for us:
6 In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials,
7 that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ,
8 whom having not seen you love. Though now you do not see Him, yet believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory,
9 receiving the end of your faith--the salvation of your souls.

In response to the incredible love of God, we can respond to Him with gratitude and worship - we can be people who reflect the goodness of God. Jesus has done so much for us - He has brought us into a relationship with God our Heavenly Father, and the way we live can reflect that we know and love Him. We can consistently reflect on how we have seen the Lord work in our lives, and proclaim to those that would hear that He is good. 

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We have reached Day 23 in this year's Faith Radio Advent Guide, "25: A Christmas Advent-ure," with our theme, Unwrapping Christmas.  Today we reflect on His love for us and others. It's an incredible love - a love He has shared with us and desires for us to share with others.  Our theme Scripture passage is from the 22nd chapter of Matthew, containing our Savior's words to a man asking Him about "the great commandment in the Law."  We can read:
37 Jesus said to him, "'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.'
38 This is the first and great commandment.
39 And the second is like it: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.'

Naomi Bogale is a competitive runner from Ethiopia - according to an article on the Faithwire website, she had suffered a career-threatening injury, had lost an endorsement deal with Nike, and had come to America to try to get back on track.  But, then, the unthinkable happened - she was involved in a car accident, her back was broken, and she had a spinal cord injury.

The article relates that she said to CBS News, “All my body was paralyzed, my legs, nothing, zero...”

Faithwire stated: 

Many of the medical professionals Bogale spoke with told her the chances she would walk again were very slim and, if it was even possible, it would take years to achieve. Doctors gave her a projection of two to three years and, even then, it was always no more than a “maybe.”

Bogale’s devout Christian faith led her to a different conclusion. Thanks to a dream, the Ethiopian athlete was confident the doctors’ prognoses were wrong, because they didn’t account for miracles.

The accident occurred some seven months ago, and she began to try to move again; according to the article, she has just started to take some steps, for which she is rejoicing:

“God is good,” she said. “God is great.”

All the credit, Bogale added, belongs to the Lord.

She says, "I’m working hard, but I do believe more in miracles; it’s [a] miracle, you know," adding, "The science doesn’t prove it [and] the doctors never imagined — nobody can imagine.”

Even CBS News noted: "Naomi isn't done. She says her goals are much bigger than just walking. She wants to run again, and she has faith it will happen."

The Faithwire headline called the improvement a "Christmas miracle," and it's a great story to highlight here on this Friday before Christmas.  And, you can be grateful that Naomi Bogale is speaking out. It's a wonderful example to us, because it can motivate each of us to think about what God has done for us and to tell other people about it. 

Because Jesus has demonstrated His love for us by giving His life on a cross, He gives us the capacity to respond in love to Him, to fill our hearts with His love, and to love others.  One way that we love is to not only minister to their needs, but also to share - verbally - what Jesus has done in our lives.  His love can motivate us to speak the truth about Him.  This Christmas, we can allow the love of God to flow through us, which can produce a contagious spirit.