Fourth Sunday in Advent: Love

As we approach the culmination of Advent and stand at the threshold of Christmas, we're invited to examine what love truly means beyond the cultural narratives we've absorbed. This message brilliantly contrasts our beloved Christmas movies—from Buddy the Elf to Hallmark romances—with the profound, enduring love described in 1 Corinthians 13. While our culture presents love as magical moments, grand gestures, and heartwarming reunions, Scripture reveals something far deeper: love that is patient through hardship, kind in difficulty, and never-ending despite our failures. The Corinthian church struggled with envy, arrogance, and self-seeking behavior—much like the conflicts that drive our favorite holiday film plots. Yet Paul redirects them, and us, toward a love that bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, and endures all things. The most powerful truth emerges when we realize this isn't just instruction for how we should love, but a description of how God loves us. His love doesn't fade when the decorations come down or the season ends. It's not dependent on our performance or our ability to create perfect Christmas moments. God's love for us in Christ never ends—it's the gift that keeps giving long after every present is unwrapped and every movie credit rolls. This Advent, we're called to receive this unfailing love rather than strive to manufacture it ourselves.