Love That Serves
Advent Week Two, Day Four
Galatians 5:13-14

Focus: “...but through love serve one another..."

Before I was born, my parents devoted themselves to serving children in need. I grew up with 150 “brothers and sisters,” all of whom were cared for by my parents. They sacrificed all they had in order to provide for the basic needs of these children… to give them the hope of Christ… to love God by serving them.

In today’s passage, Paul reminds the Galatian church that their faith in Jesus made them free and that all believers stood on the same ground as sons of God. He also said, in Galatians 3:28, “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” Paul wanted these people to understand that God expected them to respect and to serve one another in love.

This message speaks volumes to us. God calls us to love him with all our hearts, souls, and minds and also to love one another. People will know that we are Christ’s disciples if we love one another.

My parents’ love and devotion for the Lord enabled them to raise many children in the ways of God. To them, these orphan children were their own, no different from myself; we were one big family. Determine now to make Christmas a time for you to love your friends and neighbors in service. To demonstrate love by serving reflects the example of Jesus.