Every time I turn on the TV, it seems as though I am exposed once again to the 21^st century’s most sought after invention…the snuggie.  Who wouldn’t want a snuggie?  I mean they present the owner with unprecedented comfort and style.  (sarcasm) 

Just the other day, I was sitting on the couch, watching a football game, feeling a little cold.  I had a little blanket with me, but it wasn’t covering my whole body.  When I tried to change the channels with the remote, I had to take my hand out from underneath the blanket, losing valuable heat.  I honestly said to myself, this snuggie thing looks pretty appealing. Now when I first saw the snuggie, I have to admit that I was pretty skeptical, but I can see that the weirdness of it all is totally justified because of the comfort it provides.

Who doesn’t want to be comfortable?  We all love comfort don’t we?  Sometimes our desire for comfort will cause us to take steps that once seemed a little irrational and downright weird.  We'll wear a blanket as a piece of clothing won't we? 

This desire for comfort that we all want doesn’t always stop with our outside, natural world.  Many times, our desire for comfort even affects our heart, our walk with Christ and how we interact with the world around us.

If we're not mindful, we can be introverted and a little hesitant to connect the Love of God with the hearts of the people God has placed within our lives.  As a Christian, this is definitely irrational and a little weird don't you think?

Real love is not a feeling designed to make us feel warm and fuzzy, it is an action that produces selfless, sacrificial giving.  So we must be willing to step out of the comfortable and begin to fulfill Christ’s cause.

1 John 3:16-18 (NIV)   ¹⁶This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. ¹⁷If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? ¹⁸Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth.

"This is how we know what love is..."

What an example Jesus provides for us!  So this Christmas season, allow the love of Jesus to flow through you.  That means we might have to step out of a comfort zone and make the shift from the selfish to the selfless.

Here's what can happen when we do that:

1 John 4:12 (NLT)  No one has ever seen God.  But if we love each other, God lives in us, and his love is brought to full expression in us.

In other words, when we flow in the Love of Jesus with others, God is seen by our friends and our family, and when people catch a glimpse of Jesus, everything changes!  Give something other than socks or a tie or even a gift card.  Give someone a first hand encounter with God's love.  Thanks for being people like that!