For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that
everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. God
sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world
through him. —John 3: 16-17
I believe even when the world is and has been full of injustice. Instead
of waking up pleased with my own lot and apathetic to others, I wake up
and want to fight for a better world. Jesus said that the first and greatest
commandment is to “love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and
with all thy soul, and with all thy mind … And the second is like unto
it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself” (Matthew 22: 37, 39, KJV).
Many, perhaps most, Christians can repeat these lines by rote, and yet
we often fail to recognize their significance. These two commandments
are together for a reason. The concept of loving the Lord is necessarily
abstract and up for interpretation. But the task of loving our neighbor as
ourselves is a call so clear that it is painful. Every day, we see neighbors
who could use our love, and we look away.
In this world, loving is hard. It requires taking risks with no promise of
reward. It requires helping those who may never be able to help back
and confronting the forces promising a select few peace and prosperity.
Our collective failure to love has made this world unjust. I believe even
when injustice surrounds us, because I think God wants us to see it
in order to really see each other. Through these commandments, God
offers us a path to real justice, peace and prosperity on earth as it is in
heaven.
Holy God, we come this Advent season asking for our eyes to be opened to
those around us. Move us to acts of love where we see the needs of those
around us. Help us to love others as you have loved us. Amen.
Caleb Doan
Read other Advent 2020 Devotionals or download the book as a PDF.