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Today’s Agenda
Love as Gift
Good Morning Everyone!! Merry Christmas Eve!! I hope you’re all spending time with your families and taking the time to enjoy the holiday for what it really is: the celebration of God taking human form to live among and teach us humans. It’s truly a beautiful event showcasing the relationship that God wants with His people, and sometimes consumerism can cloud the truth behind the holiday (see: Charlie Brown).
Today, and for the rest of the week, our main course is going to highlight the teachings of Jesus Christ as we celebrate his Incarnation. Today will be about revealing what love actually is. To burn it off, we’re going to do an exercise called the gift inventory. To wrap it up with our Book Nook, we’ll open our Bibles to the most fitting quote during this season.
I’m gonna try and keep this short and sweet so the festivities can commence. Have a seat, because Thought Breakfast is served!
Today’s Breakfast
Love Begins With Gift
Christmas reveals to us a reframing of love. The cultural script is that love is found in sentiment, generosity in excess, and Christmas is merely about consumption. Jesus reverses these ideas, saying love begins with a gift, not performance. God, therefore, gives Himself first. No prerequisites, no merit, no optimization.
The Incarnation teaches us that God enters the world as a child (vulnerable, dependent, and unearned). Love arrives before anyone can recognize or respond to it. Christmas, then, is not about proving devotion but receiving before acting.
Jesus repeatedly frames love as a response rather than an initiation:
“Freely you have received; freely give.”
“Whoever has been forgiven much loves much.”
The pattern here is that healing actually precedes obedience. Mercy precedes transformation. Belonging precedes behavior. Augustine actually makes this very apparent in his Confessions, by attributing seemingly random happenings that pushed him through life to God even before he converted.
It’s important to view Christmas, the coming of Christ, through this lens. Christ didn’t come as a reward for holiness. He came when people were unfinished, divided, and waiting.
Jesus defines love not as a feeling, but as willing the good of another (agape). Loving your enemies, serving the least, giving without expecting return; these are the things Jesus spoke of and did the most.
So Jesus teaches us that love starts with grace, which comes as a gift. Love isn’t generosity under pressure. It’s generosity rooted in gratitude. Jesus doesn’t say “give so that you may be loved.” He shows us; “You are loved. Now live from that place.”
Burn Those Thought Calories
The Gift Inventory
Try to name:
One thing you received this year that you didn’t earn.
One person who gave without obligation.
Then ask yourself:
How does that change how I show up this week?
Where can I give without keeping score?
Book Nook
“For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.”
- John 3:16
Love is defined by initiative. Jesus defines love not as a reaction, but as first movement. God didn’t wait for humanity to repent, improve, or understand. He just sent His greatest gift to all of us. Love begins before the world can respond. Christmas, then, is not humanity reaching up; it’s God reaching back down, reminding us of the gift He gave and continues to give.
Munch on that for today. With Christmas being tomorrow, remember Jesus’ Great Commandment: “Love One Another.” Have a great day, spend time with your family, and have a very Merry Christmas!!
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That’s it for today.
Remember to stay mindful, smell the flowers, and take it easy.
Chef Ricky - Thought Breakfast
