“As high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love” Psalm 103:11 (NIV)
Valentine’s Day is a special day each year for people to express human love. We might use this day to do something special for our spouses and children with gifts of chocolates, flowers, dinner out, or even little candy hearts that say: “I love You” or “You’re Mine”. Sometimes it is simply a friendly acknowledgement of people we care about with a call or a Valentine card. I personally look forward to this holiday each year, because my precious granddaughter was born on this day and has brought our family so much love. That has become the focus of our Valentine’s day, our human love for someone very special.
I often hear people say they really enjoy Valentine’s Day; but for others – not so much. For them February 14 comes and goes like any other day, the celebration either ignored or avoided. We should seize this day to celebrate. Why? Because God who is love created us to love, to express that love to others and to receive love. 1 John 4:7, ESV reminds us: "Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God."
There is plenty about love in the Bible, including the love of God, our love for God, God's love for us, true love, false love, etc. Depending on the version of the Bible you read, the word love is used hundreds and hundreds of times: 310 times in the Old King James Version and as often as 898 times in the New Living Translation. Love is not the shortest word in the Bible, but it is probably one of the most powerful ones; and 1 Corinthians 13, is often called the “love chapter” of the Bible. In fact, 1 Corinthians 13 teaches that people must connect to love, specifically the love of God, in order to live meaningful lives.
The Way of Love
13 If I speak with human eloquence and angelic ecstasy but don’t love, I’m nothing but the creaking of a rusty gate. 2 If I speak God’s Word with power, revealing all his mysteries and making everything plain as day, and if I have faith that says to a mountain, “Jump,” and it jumps, but I don’t love, I’m nothing.
3-7 If I give everything I own to the poor and even go to the stake to be burned as a martyr, but I don’t love, I’ve gotten nowhere. So, no matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I’m bankrupt without love.
Love never gives up.
Love cares more for others than for self.
Love doesn’t want what it doesn’t have.
Love doesn’t strut,
Doesn’t have a swelled head,
Doesn’t force itself on others,
Isn’t always “me first,”
Doesn’t fly off the handle,
Doesn’t keep score of the sins of others,
Doesn’t revel when others grovel,Takes pleasure in the flowering of truth,
Puts up with anything,
Trusts God always,
Always looks for the best,
Never looks back,
But keeps going to the end.
8-10 Love never dies. Inspired speech will be over some day; praying in tongues will end; understanding will reach its limit. We know only a portion of the truth, and what we say about God is always incomplete. But when the Complete arrives, our incompletes will be canceled.
11 When I was an infant at my mother’s breast, I gurgled and cooed like any infant. When I grew up, I left those infant ways for good.
12 We don’t yet see things clearly. We’re squinting in a fog, peering through a mist. But it won’t be long before the weather clears and the sun shines bright! We’ll see it all then, see it all as clearly as God sees us, knowing him directly just as he knows us!
13 But for right now, until that completeness, we have three things to do to lead us toward that consummation: Trust steadily in God, hope unswervingly, love extravagantly. And the best of the three is love.
– 1 Corinthians 13 (The Message)
Let’s remember to love one another. This Valentine’s Day take the time to express your love to those you care about, but remember that it is going to take more than this special day for them to experience God’s love through you.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=reQOzkCs9_w
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