Christmas is doing a little something extra for someone. (Charles Schultz, late creator of the comic strip “Peanuts”)

Christmas is just three weeks away, and already many are planning their gift-giving. Schultz suggests doing a little extra this year, and Peg Bracken, another American author, offers a helpful idea: “Gifts of time and love are surely the basic ingredients of a truly merry Christmas.” Begin to think now about how you can spend time with and give love to others.

Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins (1 Peter 4:8). Let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth (1 John 3:18).