God’s Love In Action
By Rev. Dr. Terrance Gattis
Global Chaplain, Habitat for Humanity International

God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them (Heb. 6:10)

While speaking about love, Mother Teresa offered these words: “love cannot remain by itself – it has no meaning. Love has to be put into action and that action is service.” Mother Teresa’s words remind us that love is not a noun, but rather love is a verb. Love is not measured by what we say, it’s measured by the actions that we take and the service that we render.

Advent is a time of preparation, of self-examination and of reflection as we celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. It’s a time of hope and a time to remember the love that God demonstrated for us when he sent his Son to be our Savior. But how should we respond to God’s love? What actions should we take? The writer of the epistle of Hebrews has given us an answer. We are to respond to God’s love by putting His love into action as we work to serve and help God’s people.

The practice of putting God’s love into action is what Habitat’s mission is all about. When we bring people together to build homes, communities, and hope, not only are we are helping God’s people by providing a decent place to live, we are also responding to the love that God has shown us by putting His love into action.

In closing, I am reminded of a song that I learned as a boy in church: “And They Will Know We Are Christians by Our Love.” This should be our focus during this Advent season, that the world will know that we are Christians not by the crosses that we wear or the Bible verses that we quote, but rather by the people that we help and by the work that we do to put God’s love into action.