Christ's message to us was very simple, yet religion has created tons of rules and guidelines to follow. The most important thing he taught is not stressed enough - Live by the spirit of love.

With Christmas upon us, many of us use this time of year to celebrate the birth of one of the greatest men to ever influence the earth. You can call him what you will and believe him to be what you want him to be, but most of these beliefs only hint to the truth of what his real message to us was and still is. If you seek to understand his message, you will understand, because truth never changes.

Established religion has painted a very inflexible image of the man who came here to save us from ourselves and guide us into a new era of spirituality. The personality that is Christ was lost and we view him as a super human, far exceeding what we can become. That couldn't be more untrue. He was totally human, like you. He was a spirit, a fellow Son of God, having a human experience, like you. He laughed, he cried, he sighed, he angered, he felt loneliness, he felt betrayal, he felt despair, he felt frustration, he felt the need to be hugged.

Do you think Christ never ran to his mother as he was growing up, to be held by her as he was worn weary by the images and concepts that were being revealed to him as he grew? As a young child, do you think he never cried that he was sorry when he brushed up against his mothers pottery, dropping the bowl and smashing it? You need to understand that he was totally human. In every way. Overall, his strength was that he knew so very deeply in his heart that all things could work together for good, no matter how good or how tragic they may first appear. You can aspire to be like him because you already are like him. You just have to believe it.

Christ's message to us was very simple, yet based upon his teachings, religion has created tons of rules and guidelines to follow. In this noble process, the most important thing he taught is not stressed often enough and sometimes, not at all: Live by the spirit of love.

The purpose of a rule is to protect inexperienced individuals from harming themselves or harming those around them. A good example would be climbing the stairs. As a child, you are not allowed to climb the stairs. You lack the physical ability to climb them safely and you lack the intellect to know when climbing the stairs is necessary. You are required to follow a rule for your own good.

As children of our creator, we needed to be told at one time that killing was wrong; that stealing was wrong; that lying was wrong. In those days our minds were nearly barbaric in nature and we really did not know any better. God had to write it down for us. As a species, we were very young and unable to come to those conclusions on our own. Like a child, we had to be told what we could and could not do, for our own good.

Thousands of years went by and a child was born, a messiah, a saviour, a messenger, a prophet, a teacher to reform the world as we knew it. Life here would never be the same again. His message was that there are no rules, so just throw them away. His message was that we have grown past needing to live by rules, rituals and inflexible structure. The established religions of the time could not bear to lose the self righteousness and illusion of safety and uniqueness that their "structure" provided and would eventually kill him for it.

People love structure, but God is not structure. People love knowing that if they follow a few rules that they are safe, but God is not rules. People love knowing they are right and that they have found the one true path to God, but God is everywhere and is easier to communicate with than breathing. God is the totally true spirit of love. Christ's message is that the time for living by structure, rules and man-made illusion is past. It's the time for living by love.

As with a growing child who is told there is no longer any rules or restrictions for using the stairs, Christ's message is that we have matured to some degree and it is time to understand the purpose behind the rules so that the rules would no longer have to exist. "Do not kill" as just words means to not bring a person to the point of death, but the Spirit of the rule is that you should not even allow yourself to become angry with the person in the first place. When you live by the Spirit of love, there is no need for rules because pure love does not have restrictions that need to be applied.

Misplaced rules do more harm than good. As a young child, not using the stairs is a good and necessary rule, but as an adult, that same rule would prevent you from being able to function normally. Spiritual rules also are for the young, but as a spiritually matured people, we need to look beyond practicing the rules and begin living by the spirit behind the rules. In many cases, the rules you live by are restricting your ability to move forward in your walk with your creator. Don't place restrictions that are not meant to be there. As an adult, you are not breaking the rule of climbing the stairs, you are surpassing the need for the rule to exist at all. Surpass the rules that keep God and Christ tucked away in a little corner of your life. They didn't make those rules, we did.

When asked what the two greatest commandments were, Christ quoted the first two which implicitly state that you must love your God and love your neighbor as yourself. All you need is love. Nothing else matters. That is the only rule. Where there is love, there is strength to change the things in your life for the better. Love is all you need. Love is all you need. Love is all you need.

Bottom line, this Christmas Season, as you allow yourself to feel the Spirit of the season and notice yourself being kinder and gentler to those around you, bear in mind that the reason you like this feeling, this Spirit of Christmas, is because it's what you are really all about. It's who you really are. The real you. You are a creature of Love. You are made with Love, by Love, to Love. It's as natural for you to love as it is to breathe. Just allow it to be.

Merry Christmas