Happy Birthday, Who?

I used to do the whole CHRISTmas thing sincerely, yet blindly, until it dawned on my bright head that we really do not have any solid proof that Jesus was born exactly on the 25th of December.

Nevertheless, I still appreciate this season because of the beautiful spirit of giving. I wish it is not just limited to Christmas.

The real reason for the season, as I see (a purely personal view), is Love and not a religious agenda.

One can, however, pretend that this is about Christ, and it is absolutely fine, but pushing that idea on someone who does not believe in Jesus is not Christ-like. Christ was never a bully.

With that as the backdrop, I wish you a very merry Christmas and happy holidays (or work days, depending  your work schedule!).

How to Love Unconditionally

In this post, I said about being the conduits of unconditional love.

But how do we love unconditionally? 

It is easy for me to love my nice elderly neighbor or my best friend. But the rubber meets the road when the object of our love is someone who hurt us or others. How do we love this person?

The easiest way is to not equate the so-called "offender" which his actions.

But in most cases, we cannot love a person unconditionally, if we trust in our strength alone. If you have any doubts, try loving Hitler, or someone who hurt you.

Unconditional love is not something that we can manufacture. It is the fruit of the Spirit that manifests as we remain in Christ Jesus. 

True, we see the fruit on the branches but notice that the branch does not strive to bear fruit. It is His Life within us that helps us bear His fruit, for we have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer we who live, but Christ who lives in us; and the life which we now live in the flesh we live by faith of the Son of God, who loves us and gave Himself for us.

There will be a fight initially in our mind, especially if we are usually prone to be driven by the dictates of the ego, which is not in alignment with the Spirit, Who is housed in our spirit. But the more we cease from our striving and emotionally rest in Him, acknowledging our inability to bear His fruit, the more we will see His rivers of living water saturating us and flow through us. 

The fruit of the Spirit then will no longer be Christian-speak for us, but a living reality, which will not be dependent on others or the circumstances, no matter how grave or bright the situation is.