Wednesday December 1, 2021
THE JOY OF GRACIOUS, SACRIFICIAL LOVE
SCRIPTURE: Do everything in love. 1 Corinthians 16:14
During 2020 and 2021, I spent most days at home. I took advantage of the time to read many devotional books and corresponding sections of the Bible that were suggested. Prior to this confinement, I must admit that Bible study didn’t always take place on a daily basis. For me, one blessing of the pandemic was to instill the habit of daily meditation.
The joy of gracious, sacrificial love — that’s what it’s all about, isn’t it? What follows is from James W. Moore’s book, Christmas Gifts That Won’t Break:
A Franciscan priest, Father Bonaventure, gave a Christmas party for Native American children of the Papago Tribe near Tucson, AZ. It was their first Christmas party, with races, games and prizes for the winners. Luis Pablo, eight yers old, tried hard; however he didn’t win a single prize. At the end of the party, the children formed a line and the priest gave each one a bag of candy. When Luis received his, he asked for three more. The priest refused him. Luis explained that he only wanted empty bags, so the priest handed him three bags.
Later, the priest looked out of the church window and saw Luis sitting on the ground with the three empty bags. Carefully he was dividing his candy into the three bags. The priest remembered that Luis had two little brothers and a younger sister at home. They were too young to attend the party. Father Bonaventure took the bag of remaining candy and went outside. He give it to Luis. “Here’s your prize,” he said. Luis asked, “What for?” The priest replied “During the party I watched to see which one of you had the true spirit of Christmas. You win.”
Christ came into the world to show us what God is like and what God wants us to be like. Love came down at Christmas. Christ was born, and sacrificial love arrived with His birth. Joy results when we each do what we do best, and we do it in love.
PRAYER: Gracious and loving God, help us each day to show Your love to others. Provide us with many opportunities to volunteer, to share greetings and to give as we are able to meet those needs that we can fulfill. This we ask in the name of Your son, Jesus Christ.
Mary Anne May
