In this Christmas Season, I celebrate with you the teaching of unconditional love brought by one of the greatest spiritual teachers to walk the earth. With all the attention that Christianity has given to Jesus’ birth and his crucifixion, and with all the meaning that has been attributed to Jesus by others, his own message has yet to fully penetrate the heart of humanity. This Christmas, let us give and receive unconditional love as we never have before.

Here, in these few words, is Jesus’ invitation as it has come down to us through the ages. It is, as much as possible, in his own words, understanding all the issues of translation. Despite those issues, this profound message is still hidden in plain sight in the best-selling book of all time, the Bible.

This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you.

Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you.

Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all.

Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.

Whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain.

Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.

Love, in its pure form, is universal. It is the ultimate power of the cosmos. That power cannot be undone and it never stops. When a person opens themselves to that power and lets it move through them, refusing to stop doing so for any reason, they have embraced that ultimate power as their own reality. They have taken the same stance as a human being that universal love takes all the time—“I never stop radiating myself.”

When you and I love unconditionally, we are embracing what is most true of who we are. We are love. To love unconditionally, we have to face the greatest lie that has ever been foisted on a human being—that we are weak when we express love and we are strong when we act from fear and hate. Exactly the opposite is true. We are powerful when we love unconditionally.

Unconditional love is the beginning of the spiritual journey. The spiritual journey is all about what happens when a person chooses a life of unconditional love. It is about how that person is transformed and transmuted by their choice, which one day ceases to be a choice and becomes who they are, known through and through.

I have many heroes in my life; people who have inspired me, people I have admired and aspired to be like in some way. Above them all is the life and teaching of this courageous, passionate, loving man who showed us what universal love looks like in human form. May we receive his message in this day and let it be our own.