Jesus, Hallmark, and the GREATEST love story of all time

It’s Christmas. That might seem like an obvious statement, but for me, it doesn’t seem that obvious this year. I’ve said Merry Christmas only once so far. It’s not particularly Merry, and frankly, it doesn’t quite feel like Christ is coming. This year has been messy and complicated. A word that just keeps coming to mind is dastardly: wicked and cruel, and the cruelness of this world is complex. There are billions of people that live on this planet, all with their own struggles and independent lives. We live in a world where things fall apart instantly and yet can come together in a moment as well. It is hard to predict, and we are currently living in a time that no one expected. 

Recently, however, I heard something that I thought was quite profound. What if our world is actually quite simple? Simple enough that a simple confession of love can change it. Now it's Christmas time, and love is in the air, so it seems fitting to be a "romantic" at this time. Honestly though, think about it. Our worlds drastically change upon the utterance of, "I love you." It can alter our life's course. One moment we are planning out our lives, we hear the words "I love you," and the next moment, we are weaving this person into the tapestry of that life. "I love you" can change everything in a person's life, and we live in a world where that is possible. And I don't know about you, but I love a good love story around the holidays, which is probably why there are 9 million Hallmark Christmas movies with the same plot. We don't care about the plot so much; we just want to see a love story. Well, luckily for you, that is what Christmas is all about. 

              “We live in a world where a simple confession of love can change everything” is even more true about the Christmas story. I think maybe all Christians should be hopeless romantics because we believe that our world can, in fact, change because our God said, "I love you." Jesus, laying in the manger, is that confession of love.

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son.

This is quite the story to believe. It's a bold claim, the God of the universe says to us, "I love you.” However, this isn't just a generic proclamation to everyone, but this is the good news for you, the person reading this right now. This is the good news of great joy that will be for all the people, as the angel said. The Christmas story is God confessing his love. Of course, true love isn't just the confession, it's lived out day by day, hour by hour. And 33ish years later, God would again prove his love to be true on the cross. God does not just say I love you without proving it. 

          Every Christmas morning, from the time I was born until now, my family has always read the Luke 2 account of the Christmas story. At this point in my life, I have the story memorized, and any time I hear it brings me to tears. It didn't always bring me to tears, but over the past few years, it has. Why? Because the Christmas story is my story. My new life starts with the Christmas story. My life began when God showed his love to me by sending Jesus.

Moreover, I believe this Christmas story was written in a way to include us. Jesus wasn't born in a temple; He wasn't born at a palace. He was born in a little town, in the side room of a house, because the house was overcrowded. He was born to a mother and father with a complicated relationship. The whole point of the story is to be relatable. God wanted us to be with him, and so He came to us to be relatable. The Christmas story is so beautiful because God said to me, Caleb Fugate, and you, "I love you." "I want you to know me." "I want you to be able to relate to me." Jesus is the statement, "I love you." He is the Word made flesh (John 1:14). Jesus is quite literally God's words, "I love you," made flesh. This simple confession of love is yours. This Christmas story is your story. This simple confession of love has changed my life and my world forever, and I hope  that it changes your world too. We live in some dastardly times. People have lost loved ones; you might be lonely and depressed—God knows I am. This is not how things were supposed to be, but I hope that even in this cruel season we find ourselves in, you will come to know that a simple confession of love can change this world.

“I Love You”

-God