Happy Valentines Day!
Today is a day of great expectation. We expect to receive demonstrations of love from our loved ones. We expect lavish gifts, expensive meals and elaborate proclamations of amore. From childhood, we are pressured into giving cards, candy or other special gifts to those we love. Those who don't receive "offerings of love" are often left to feel lonely, unloved and depressed.
During this time of great expectation, let us look into our own hearts and seek ways to show genuine love instead of receive superficial love. Let us cast away our social conditioning to be selfish in our desires and frivolous in our displays of love. Let us set expectations of ourselves to be living examples of love everyday to everyone.
Below you will find an excerpt from I Corinthians 13. It explains perfectly on its own what love is. I have added a few links (okay, maybe more than a few...) in the text as usual so please click to see other examples of how we can use God's word to be a living exhibition of love today!
"Suppose I speak in the languages of human beings or of angels. If I don’t have love, I am only a loud gong or a noisy cymbal. Suppose I have the gift of prophecy. Suppose I can understand all the secret things of God and know everything about him. And suppose I have enough faith to move mountains. If I don’t have love, I am nothing at all. Suppose I give everything I have to poor people. And suppose I give myself over to a difficult life so I can brag. If I don’t have love, I get nothing at all.
Love is patient. Love is kind. It does not want what belongs to others. It does not brag. It is not proud. It does not dishonor other people. It does not look out for its own interests. It does not easily become angry. It does not keep track of other people’s wrongs. Love is not happy with evil. But it is full of joy when the truth is spoken. It always protects. It always trusts. It always hopes. It never gives up. Love never fails.
The three most important things to have are faith, hope and love. But the greatest of them is love."
Dear God, Help me to love the way you love. Remind me of your goodness and merciful ways as I go about my day. Help me to be a living example of Your word in my thoughts, speech and actions so that people will see me and feel Your love. Protect my heart from being corrupted by evil. Help me to put to death my evil ways and live a renewed life of love as Jesus displayed to us all. In Jesus' name, Amen.
On Valentine's Day I like to give homemade gifts to those who aren't expecting anything. This year I made some strawberry and chocolate truffles and put them in pretty tin cans and gave them to my co-workers and my mechanic and of course Pops. I caught Pops off guard because he is always giving me gifts so I bombarded him with a bouquet of I love you balloons, truffles and a card that dripped of devotion and love (hahahaha). Everyone that I gave gifts to this year really enjoyed them.
ReplyDeleteAfter all, that's why we are here, to give hope to the hopeless, to be kind to the forgotten and most important of all, show Christ instead of talking about Him all the time.
I love my life with all it's ups and downs. God through Jesus Christ taught me how to love by loving me. Unconditional love is work but so rewarding. Life is good and it was really good on Valentine's Day.