"The most wonderful time of the year"?

Celebrating the reality of CHRISTmas is far different from the fantasy CHRISTmas!  Many of us suffer from a variety of issues during this time of year; disfunctional families, separation from relatives and friends, illness, deaths, etc. It is not always the "most wonderful time of the year"!

Yet as believers, we can still celebrate the reality of Christ's love. Is that not what CHRISTmas is anyway? It's more about the REASON than the SEASON anyway! It is not the to-do list or even the gift list. It is about the GIFT! The love story between God and me is enough to make me say "Merry CHRISTmas to all and to treat them with His love, not my frustrations or shortcomings.

LOVE must be #1 on my list of to-dos. In reality, it is THE REASON!

Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. He who does not love does not know God, for God is love. In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. (1 John 4:7-11)