The Ultimate Christmas Romance

 I'm a huge Christmas fan! When it comes to the festive season I am all in! I have already had my decorations up for over a week and eaten multiple mince pies. I love continuing Christmas traditions from my childhood and over the years we have worked to build new traditions both with my older step daughter and now my little girl. This year we are even having an elf to visit (I’m sure I will regret this one!) 


One of my absolute favourite things to do over the festive period (and I have already watched more than I care to admit this Christmas already!) is to get up early, sit with a cup of coffee by the light of the tree, and watch a cheesy romantic ‘Hallmark’ Movie! I absolutely love them! The film where the Christmas hating girl from the city returns home to the family Christmas tree farm that was left to her by her late aunt. When she returns she finds that it is in danger and  She only has a few weeks to save it. At the farm, the only employee is  a surly and handsome man, who although appears hard does lots of charity work and has a deep love of Christmas. As the film develops, the boy shows girl, reluctantly, the true meaning of Christmas as they work to put on a Christmas tree festival in order to sell all the trees and save the farm. Towards the end of the film, just as boy and girl are about to kiss, there is a moment of tension as the city boy, executive type that girl was dating in the city, shows up to bring her back ‘home’. Thankfully the film ends with the girl realising that home is the Christmas tree farm after all and that her heart belongs to the country boy! I think I should moonlight as a film writer!!


My husband doesn’t seem to understand my love of this type of film. Maybe it is because I always expect a grand romantic gesture from him at Christmas now and he’s not a grand romantic gesture kind of guy or maybe its because I watch so many! But it got me thinking about why this cheesy romcom appeals to me so much, and what does it say about my faith. You see for all the Christmas carols sung in the film and the kindness and goodwill shown, very few of the films reveal the true meaning of Christmas, that the son of God came down to earth to be our friend, saviour and king. 


Each of these films shows something that each of us has within us. We each have certain God-given desires, a God given itch that these films seem to scratch. One of these things is the desire to see good triumph over evil. We love the happy ending, the fact that the tension is resolved and there are no loose ends. That they all live happily ever after. We each have within us the desire to see good win in our own lives and world around us. We recognise that a world in which things like Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness and Self-control are evident is a much better world to live in. We also see the tension in the world around us and are disheartened by the places where evil seems to triumph. 


This is a tale as old as time, but in the greatest Christmas story ever told, we see how God decided to change the narrative, to meet that need that every person has and to make away for Good to triumph over evil for good. Jesus came as the light in the darkness that could not be overcome. He made a way so that if we believe him we can join in the victory. 1 John 5:4 says:



“You see, every child of God overcomes  the world, for our faith is the victorious power that triumphs over the world. So who are the world conquerors, defeating its power? Those who believe that Jesus is the Son of God.”


Another God-given desire we all have is the desire to be loved. We all love a good romance and as a christian one of my absolute favourite things is to see people start to see how much God loves them and therefore start to love themselves in a God-honouring way. Many of these hallmark movies not only show a romantic kind of love, but also show the love between family, the meaning of friendship and  the love found in community with others. At Christmas, we are reminded that God sent his son Jesus into this world as a baby simply because of his love for us. One of my favourite passages in 1 John tells us that God is love and that when we love one another we are accepting God’s love. Selected verses from 1 john 4:9, 11,12 says:



“This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us”


So for any other Christmas romance film lovers out there, as you enjoy the films this year, consider the ultimate Christmas love story which was written over 2,000 years ago and remember the truth the God is light, and life and love. This really is the best Christmas Romance that was ever told

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