Sunday, December 21st, 2025
“To love is to be vulnerable.”
—C. S. Lewis
Friends, it is finally here…Jesus is about to be born in Bethlehem! The event that changed the world is remembered this week as we celebrate the life saving love of God for all His children. For God to send and sacrifice His only begotten Son, so the damage created by humans that caused us to be separated from God; it could only be done in this manner. Jesus, knowingly and obediently chose to be born and live with us, He knew the ultimate price for reconciliation with the Father, He must bear the burdens of all sin for humanity, so all could be saved.
I realize I am rushing the story of ultimate love, but I will pause here and continue those thoughts during Lent 2026.
This week, we are focused on Love, God’s promises and the coming Jesus as Emmanuel (God With Us)! The quote I used at the beginning of this post is a favorite of mine. It is from C. S. Lewis’ book, “The Four Loves” and it was published in 1960. It discusses four different types of love; (Storge) affection, (Philia) friendship, (Eros) erotic love and (Agape) the love of God.
The Four Loves Explained:
- Storge (Affection/Family Love): The natural, comfortable bond like that between parent and child, or long-term familiarity, a gentle, modest love that doesn’t require choice but can become demanding or cruel if over-focused.
- Philia (Friendship): A chosen love based on shared interests and values, rarer and more insightful than affection, a deep companionship that can be a training ground for higher love.
- Eros (Romantic/Passionate Love): The thrilling, often physical, love that seeks completion, which Lewis saw as powerful but risky; it must be perfected by agape to avoid becoming idolatrous or destructive.
- Agape (Charity/God’s Love): The highest, most selfless, divine love; it is the ultimate goal, a gift-love that perfects the others, drawing us to God and making earthly loves truly meaningful and lasting.
Many, if not all of us have experienced the four loves described above. Finding your “true love” is magical! I have been fortunate in life, the love my family provided and continues to provide fills my heart. This is not to say all has been perfect and pleasant, and yet love was always present. As I get older and things become more and more clear to me, just how wonderful my life is, all I can say is I am immensely blessed. I have two beautiful friends that I have known for more than four decades, they are much more than friends. They are sisters who have supported and encouraged me through the years. I love them both so very much, they are family. I have also experience romantic (Eros), in my life. Although, it faded and my life is forever changed for the better because of the experiences. I have not given up on this kind of love and I am absolutely happy with where I am in life. It’s really in God’s hands and I trust Him completely.
As you are reading this, it is my prayer that you are safe, healthy and happy but most importantly, that you know and are anchored to the Agape Love of God. There is nothing that compares to the love of God. Accepting and trusting in Jesus as your personal Savior is the ultimate love. In this, we are never alone, the Holy Spirit resides within us, we have availability to Jesus 24/7/365 and the Father of all creation loves us!
May your advent experience this season bring you Hope, Peace, Joy and Love.
I have included a poem I recently read and was moved by it, I hope you like it.
This week, I lingered in the final breath of Malachi’s words and I felt the unbearable weight of what followed.
When the prophet finished speaking, heaven did not answer.
The echo of his voice faded…and then… nothing.
Four hundred years of silence.
No open vision.
No burning word.
No prophet rising with fire in his bones.
No “Thus says the Lord” breaking the darkness.
Four hundred years of waiting.
Of longing.
Of groaning.
Of hearts lifted toward heaven that seemed sealed shut.
Generation after generation was born into the quiet.
They lived.
They died.
And still—no voice.
Until one night.
On a dirt floor in a forgotten place…
in a stable that did not look holy…
in the shadows of obscurity and insignificance…
a sound was released.
After four hundred years, heaven spoke again—
not with thunder, not with fire, not from a mountain- but from the lungs of a newborn.A cry pierced the silence.
A cry that split history in two.
A cry that carried eternity within it.
In that moment, the King of Glory stepped down into the dust of His own creation.
The Eternal wrapped Himself in skin.
The Word became flesh—and cried.
The Son laid aside His throne and chose a manger.
Heaven’s highest treasure placed in a feeding trough.
He came low.
He came meek.
He came breakable.
Wrapped in swaddling cloths, laid where animals ate, born beneath the looming shadow of a cross.
A Lamb born to be slain.
The Hope of a hopeless world breathed His first breath in the dark.
A weary world rejoiced as a young virgin labored and delivered its redemption.
In that manger, the Great I AM made Himself vulnerable.
Touchable.
Killable.
And with one holy cry, the silence was shattered.
The separation was broken.
The way was opened.
Then, suddenly, heaven could not remain quiet.
The skies erupted with angelic voices declaring,
“Glory to God in the highest!”Wonderful.
Counselor.
Mighty God.
Everlasting Father.
Prince of Peace.
With the cry of an infant, heaven invaded earth.
Behold—our Redeemer.
Behold—our King.
Behold—the fulfillment of every promise.
Behold—the sound that broke four hundred years of silence.
Not the roar of an army.
Not the shout of a king claiming His crown.
But the fragile cry of God-with-us.
He did not arrive with a sword in His hand, but with nails already written into His future.
He did not enter wrapped in royalty, but in cloths that foretold a burial.
The silence was not just broken, it was answered.
Every unanswered prayer.
Every tear cried into the dark.
Every generation that waited without seeing.
Every promise that seemed delayed but not denied.
All of it converged in that single cry.
That night, heaven did not just speak- heaven gave.
God did not send another prophet.
He did not send another sign.
He sent Himself.
And in that stable, eternity took its first shallow breath.
Omnipotence learned weakness.
Glory learned humility.
Love made itself small.
The cry that shattered the silence would one day be echoed again- not from a manger, but from a cross.
The first cry said, “He has come.”
The final cry would say, “It is finished.”
From swaddling cloths to grave clothes, from a feeding trough to a borrowed tomb, He came to be broken so we could be made whole.
And even now, that sound still reverberates.
It calls the weary.
It awakens the forgotten.
It reaches into the places where heaven has felt silent again.
If God could speak through the cry of a baby,
He can still break silence in our darkest night.So behold Him.
Not distant.
Not untouchable.
Not unmoved.
But Emmanuel.
God with us.
–Jessica Jecker/Simply Jecker
~Charlotte, Striving Towards Genuine Authentic Living As A Child Of God 💕
Bonus material:
Full quote by C. S. Lewis
To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything and your heart will be wrung and possibly broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact you must give it to no one, not even an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements. Lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket, safe, dark, motionless, airless, it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable. To love is to be vulnerable.
DISCOVER 