What does God want from Us in the Season of Love?

I am a Christmas baby.  I was born on Christmas Eve, so this season has always been very special to me. When people hear I have a Christmas birthday, I get piteous looks as if I am somehow missing out on something.

My view is quite the contrary! I love the Christmas holiday and all that leads up to the celebration of Christ’s birth. This is the season of love, where everyone seems to be more tolerant and caring toward one another. It’s a great time to have a birthday!

As a child, my mother always made sure my birthday was kept separate from Christmas. This was very gracious of her since I made her miss Christmas at home with my older siblings the year I was born! 

I would get to open my birthday presents on Christmas Eve, and my brother and sister would have to wait until Christmas morning to open their gifts.  When you are a child full of Christmas excitement with anticipation at its maximum, it’s so hard to wait! I felt very special to be the only one opening presents a day early.

I always felt like Christmas Eve was my special day. My husband has continued the tradition of keeping my birthday separate from Christmas, and assuring that my day is special. Our family has always held the tradition of opening our Christmas gifts on Christmas morning.

The thing I love most about having a Christmas birthday is the feeling of love that the season holds. When I thnk about Jesus, and why he came to this world, I think about love. He came for our salvation, of course. But he also came to teach us. And the most important lesson he wanted us to learn was to love one another.

It’s a simple thing, really. I see love in the people around me. A smile shared, a helping hand, compassion, caring and tolerance. That’s really all it takes. Love has a ripple effect. When we share love, it passes on to the person who receives it; they feel more loved and are more likely to pass on that caring to someone else.

It’s amazing that our love will never be depleted. The more love we share, the more love we find within ourselves. Perhaps it helps to understand and accept that we are really not all that different from everyone around us. 

Our needs are the same as theirs. And the joy we feel in honoring someone with our little gifts of love passes that joy on to another. When this process is repeated exponentially, a vibration of love can permeate humanity, echoing Peace on Earth, good will toward men.

Love is the gift Jesus brought. He came to let us know of God’s great love for us. By sharing love amongst our fellow people, we can create peace on earth.  Each of us can start in our own little corner of the world, and together we can spread love throughout mankind. And let it not be just at Christmastime, but throughout the whole year. The world needs love, and you're the just the person to give it.