What's Love Got to do With It?

2008 Advent Calendar

Do you remember that old Tina Turner song “What’s love got to do with it?” As we begin our third week of Advent, we find ourselves exploring this very question – what does love have to do with gift giving and receiving, chocolate and candy and other decadent sweets, decorations that glitter and shine, and music that seems to inspire everyone in the ways of merriment and joy?

The truth is, love has everything to do with it! If it were not for love there would not be Christmas. “For God so LOVED the world, that he gave His only beloved Son so that anyone who believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.” The gift of Christmas, Jesus Christ, was given to us out of God’s love for us.


In this Advent season of waiting and expectation, how are we anticipating this love that comes to us from God above? How are our words and actions motivated by this godly love that has been given unconditionally and freely to us? In what ways do we go out of our way, stop in all of our busyness, and change our course of direction in order to give love to those who are hungry, naked, homeless, in prison, and on the fringes of society?

What’s love got to do with it? You are encouraged to use the daily devotions and activities found within the 2008 Family Advent Calendar offered by the Mississippi Conference of the United Methodist Church to explore this question and its multitude of answers.