Jesus said, “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another” (John 13:34). Loving one another was not a new command, yet Jesus called His followers beyond this—to love one another as He has loved us. Paul reminds us in the second chapter of Philippians that though He is equal with the Father, the Son of God, the second person of the Trinity, Jesus came to us in human form. Not only did the WORD of God become flesh, but the human form Jesus took was one of humility, approachability, and vulnerability.

Born to a poor family in a humble stable in the darkness of night, Jesus demonstrated how we are to love. To love is to humble oneself, to become vulnerable and available to others in the darkness of this world. Jesus’ birth shows us, to love our neighbor is to go the distance, leave our comforts, and risk our own safety to love our neighbors as ourselves. The WORD of God, arriving as a speechless infant, shows us that love must be embodied, not merely proclaimed. Showing up as a helpless babe to the lowly, we begin to understand how to love one another as Jesus has loved us.

Scripture teaches us Christmas is about God coming to the weak and lowly. Luke’s nativity account brings John 3:16 to life—God so loved the world that He sent His only Son not in power and comfort, but in humility, approachability, and vulnerability. This is the way Jesus calls each of us to love. Humility may look like the gift of forgiveness, the letting go of a grudge, and serving others in practical, humbling ways. Approachability may call you to welcome a stranger to your dinner table, receive and support people spontaneously, and to be open to people different than yourself. Vulnerability may lead you to messy and uncomfortable spaces: Hospital rooms, skilled nursing facilities, prisons, refugee camps, and homeless shelters. This Advent, may we seize the opportunity to love beyond our comfort, extending ourselves in humility, vulnerability, and approachability, to love our neighbors as Jesus has loved us.