LTN Advent Calender 2021: Love and Final Fantasy X

Each week, as we make our way through this Advent season, LTN Writers will provide short nerdy devotionals for you and your family to enjoy. You can find them all here. Also, if you want more nerdy advent content, check out our Advent Calendar from 2018. Our second Advent devotional centers on the love shown in Christ’s coming.

One of the truest demonstrations of love I’ve ever had the privilege of witnessing in a story comes from Final Fantasy X. This title demonstrates how pure unconditional love is when it places someone else before ourselves. In Final Fantasy X, our main group of characters undertakes a pilgrimage to fight Sin, a deadly creature who returns, again and again, to destroy lives, casting the world in a state of fear and prejudice. Tidus, the “main” character,  builds a relationship with Yuna, the summoner that the pilgrims are tasked with protecting, who is the only one who can defeat Sin. Tidus witnesses the destruction and death that Sin causes everywhere, and the heavy burden that Yuna has undertaken, as she plans to sacrifice her life to defeat Sin. Tidus’s love for Yuna leads to his promising he will find a way to save her, and they will find a way to defeat Sin together. 

Final Fantasy X reflects many elements that Christ followers will recognize and can contemplate over. This Advent season, we reflect on the love shown when Christ came down in the form of a human to be the Savior of all humanity. He came ultimately so that we would learn from Him, and that He would die for us, demonstrating how far He would go for us, His own creation. One of the most powerful verses in all of Scripture comes from John 15:13 (NLT): “There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” Christ gave us this great gift to mend the chasm between God and humanity—a chasm created by sin. That is true unconditional love. So let us remind ourselves of this, for Christ’s gift is all the more reason to cherish this season in which we celebrate the birth of our Savior.