Christmas: Guess How Much God Loves You?
Bible Readings
Take a few minutes to read the Bible verses listed and ask the Holy Spirit to lead you in how this verse applies to you this week.
6 Christ died for us at a time when we were helpless and sinful. 7 No one is really willing to die for an honest person, though someone might be willing to die for a truly good person. 8 But God showed how much he loved us by having Christ die for us, even though we were sinful. 9 But there is more! Now that God has accepted us because Christ sacrificed his life's blood, we will also be kept safe from God's anger. 10 Even when we were God's enemies, he made peace with us, because his Son died for us. Yet something even greater than friendship is ours. Now that we are at peace with God, we will be saved by the life of his Son.
Romans 5:6-10
Memory Verse
John 3:16
16 God loved the people of this world so much that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who has faith in him will have eternal life and never really die.
Have you ever read the book Guess How Much I Love You? In this book, no matter how Little Nutbrown Hare describes how much he loves Big Nutbrown Hare, Big Nutbrown Hare can always outdo him. In the end, just as he falls asleep, Little Nutbrown Hare says, “I love you to the moon.” Not to be outdone, Big Nutbrown Hare whispers, “I love you to the moon…and back.”
Like Little Nutbrown Hare competing with Big Nutbrown Hare, tell God how much you love him. Maybe you dance and sing, "I love you, Lord." Or tell God of your love in a prayer or an offering.
No matter what you or any of us do, our love is never greater than God's love. He loves you more than you can love him back. In today's Bible verse, the gospel writer John describes how big God’s love is. God sent his Son to earth. During Christmas, we celebrate the birth of Jesus, God's only son, as proof of his love.
But that’s not the end of the story. God loves you so much that he let his only son die, so you could live forever. Romans 5:8 says,"God demonstrates his own love for us in this: while we were still sinners, Christ died for us". Jesus died for our sins on Good Friday, he rose again on Easter to give us eternal life. It is through this act of love that you will live forever with God.
What do we do about that? How should you respond to God's love? By showing God’s love to others. This is what Jesus commanded when he said, "Love your neighbor as yourself" (Mark 12:31). At Christmas, you can love your neighbors through your words and actions. Share the love that God has shown to you, just like the Nutbrown Hares telling their love to each other.
Prayer
Dear God, thank you for loving me more than I could ever imagine. Help me to spread the word about your love to everyone I meet. AmenRelated Resources
Abby Epplett
Abby Epplett works as a park ranger for the National Park
Service at Big Thicket National Preserve in Texas. She recently earned a
Master’s in Museum Education at Tufts University and is a member of
Pleasant Street Christian Reformed Church in Whitinsville, MA.