God, Be My Valentine

Valentine's Day is all about love, but too many times it has nothing to do with love at all.  Today in Maryland early morning commuters had to deal with icy road conditions which resulted in multiple accidents and road closures.  The day of love started off as a day of head aches, fender benders, and late arrivals. 

What does it mean to truly love someone else?  We have all kinds of images on television, in movies, in romantic novels, and advertisements.  It's all so exciting, and lovely, and sweet, and wonderful. Love is all of those things, and much more. 

What so many people often forget is that love is also very difficult at times.  To forgive someone is to love them, and forgiving someone is not easy.  Love is also doing what needs to be done even when we do not feel like it, or put the concerns or needs of someone else before our own.  Love is much more than butterflies in our stomachs, and romantic dinners and roses, it's about dealing with the grind of daily life with grace and mercy for others. 

In his first letter to the church in Corinth Paul wrote about what true love really is.

1 Corinthians 13:4-7, 13

New International Version (NIV)

⁴ Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. ⁵ It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. ⁶ Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. ⁷ It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
¹³ And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

The thing that we must remember today, and each day of the year, is that no matter who we are, where we are, or what we have done, God loves us.  His love is so great there is no place on the Earth it cannot reach.  There is nothing so terrible that anyone could do that if we turn to God, that he will receive us and restore us.  He loves us beyond measure and he loved us first. 

Paul had a grasp of how much God loves us and below we see his prayer for the believers in his letter to the Ephesians.

Ephesians 3:14-19

New International Version (NIV)

A Prayer for the Ephesians

¹⁴ For this reason I kneel before the Father, ¹⁵ from whom every family^[a] in heaven and on earth derives its name. ¹⁶ I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, ¹⁷ so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, ¹⁸ may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, ¹⁹ and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

I love the prayer above, put it is incomplete without verses 20 and 21.  In these two verses Paul sums it up nicely.  He lets all those who read this letter know that not only does God love us without measure, but he will do for us more than we could ever imagine.  This means that God knows our hearts and desires, and wants to bless us.  Too many times because we do not receive the love God has for us we miss so many of his blessings.

 

Ephesians 3:20-21

New International Version (NIV)

²⁰ Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, ²¹ to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.

One last verse about God's love.  I learned this verse a very long time ago.  It means just as much to me today, as it did when I learned it.

John 3:16

New International Version (NIV)

¹⁶ For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

Happy Valentine's Day!

 

A Valentine's Day Message

In the last seven days the people who live in the Maryland, Virginia, the District of Columbia, Pennsylvania, and Delaware have lived through two blizzards. Schools, businesses and even the federal government have all been shut down for almost a week. Now, we are in recovery mode. Streets have been plowed, but still very dangerous, roofs have collapsed under the weight and pressure of snow and ice, power lines have been down and people are still without power, and trees are down every where. These harsh weather conditions have not been limited to the east coast. There have been reports of harsh winter weather all over the country with snow falling in places it usually never snows like in Florida, Alabama and Texas.

In the midst of so much difficulty and upset to our usual routines, it is hard to remember that Sunday, February 14th is Valentine's Day. Valentine's Day, like all holidays has a history and customs, and has been highly commercialized, but what is most important is that it is a time that we focus on love. Love is the greatest gift one person one can give to another, and many times it's not all flowers, candy, and pretty soft stuff animals holding hearts. In fact true unconditional love is much more than romance, it is something that requires much more from each of us.

Unconditional love means we put those in our lives we love first. Jesus is the perfect example of this. He was the son of God. He was perfect in every way. God sent Jesus to Earth so save humankind. Jesus did nothing but show love to other people, but in the end the world rejected him. Right before Jesus was to be taken as a prisoner he was alone and praying. He knew the great pain was coming and he did not want to go through it. He was blameless, but he was about to take on the sins of the whole world and it was going to be beyond horrible. In his moment of sheer terror and weakness he asked God his father if this cup could be pass from him, but before the question was totally out of his lips he said, "Let your will be done."

How many times have you had to change your plans to care for someone else? How many times have you been interrupted to handle something that you did not cause? How many times have you had to clean up a mess that someone else has created? How many times have you been blamed for something that you did not do? What was your response? Was it anger? If it was, that is totally understandable, but give that anger to God and allow him to replace it with love. Love is doing the right thing at the right time, for the right reasons. If we rely on God, then we will know what the right thing is. Love does not mean letting people walk all over you or to allow others to take advantage of you.

So this Valentine's Day, cherish the people that you love in your life. Do something special. It doesn't have to be hearts and candy, it could be doing something special together. If you are alone, remember that you are never alone and receive the love God has for you. Once you know how much God loves you, you can do something nice for someone else. When love unconditionally, you do it without expecting anything in return, and that's true love.

Happy Valentine's Day and remember what it says in Matthew 28:20 "I am always with you."

Special Note: this post is dedicated to a good friend and his family, Mr. Ben Craig