On a very practical level, this Advent journey of love is about God’s love for us being reflected through us to others. In our own way, we are preparing the way for the return of Jesus, by spreading the good news of the Kingdom through love. In reality, that’s not something we can do—or do for long—on our own effort. It must come from the source of love, and it can. The Living Bible nicely paraphrases Peter’s description of that: “Now you can have real love for everyone because your souls have been cleansed from selfishness and hatred when you trusted Christ to save you; so see to it that you really do love each other warmly, with all your hearts” (1 Peter 1:22, TLB).