Happy Valentine's Day! Love is in the air everywhere you turn. Boxes of heart candies. Heart-shaped chocolates. Roses. Teddy bears. Cards. Everything in pink and red. This is a holiday where we show how much we care about people. One demonstration of love is by showering people with gifts. However, another way people often neglect is spending time with those they love. Sometimes just being with someone is enough to show your love.
Love is a powerful word with different connotations, or meanings. It is normally associated as a feeling that two people have for each other. It is supposed to be pure and unwavering. Unfortunately, love has become no more than a four-letter word that society tosses around. It is overused, yet it is often used incorrectly. Many people do not understand what true love means. Please don't think I am going to act like an expert on love. That is not my intention, nor do I believe I have all the answers. Relationships are complicated matters of the heart. I am not well-versed in love, and I can't say I have experienced it on the level many of you have. I love my family and my friends. I have a lot of people who I cherish and are dear to my heart. But no matter how much I love them, I could never love them quite enough.
Although we don't realize it, there are often conditions and limitations on our love. We want to know what we can get from the other person. We expect them to be charming and sweet all the time. We always want them to see the good in us, and to be on our side. We wish for our significant other to complete us. The list goes on...our love for each other is conditional. It is based on what is tangible: those things which we can physically see or feel. We hope to gain some sense of togetherness while in a relationship. The truth is, we are not being realistic. If we would stop and take a look around us, we would suddenly realize that love isn't always about hearts, fuzzy feelings, or perfection. Sometimes it's arguing to prove your point. It's being on two different work schedules and barely seeing each other. It could be the strain of long distance that causes a disconnect in the relationship. Of course, love is a wonderful thing. I just want you to stop and think about the realistic version of love. Sometimes it takes two broken people coming together, admitting their faults, and working through them. True love is for better or for worse. Love should not be limited to the "good times" you have with someone.
There is only one person in the entire world who does not have limitations or conditions attached to His love. While our love is based on the tangible (what we can touch), God's love is based on the intangible (what we cannot touch). His love is pure. Unwavering. Unconditional. Understanding. Unbiased. Unashamed. We may search for love in a man or woman, but initially, God created us for one purpose: to love Him. The greatest commandment is for us to love God.
Deuteronomy 6:5-And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.
God's love for us is unconditional and he expects the same from us. He commands us to love Him with everything in us because He first loved us.
1 John 4:19-We love Him, because He first loved us.
Jesus loved us so much that he died for us. In all the world, I cannot imagine a love greater than this. He laid down his life for us. He willingly sacrificed himself so that we could have life, and have it more abundantly. If you are unsure of what true love is, think about the love of Jesus. Look to the cross, and there you will find the meaning of true love-an agape, or perfect, love. Where our love knows the conditions of ourselves, His love knows no boundaries. He has loved us at our best and at our worst. While we were yet in our sins, Jesus Christ died for us. Although we could never measure up to the perfect love of God, we can try to love more like Him. This is my prayer on Valentine's Day, and every day: "Lord, let my life be the proof of your love. Let my love look like you..."
1 John 4:10-11
Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another.
Love is essential. Although we could never love each other as perfectly as God loves us, we certainly ought to try. If you are feeling lonely on this Valentine's Day because you aren't in a relationship, take comfort in the fact that you are loved by God. True love is still in the air for you. It lives in your heart and it fills up your soul. Child of God, remember, you are Beloved.
About the song: Jordan Feliz is a Christian artist, and he wrote this song for his daughter. He wanted her to know that, despite the lies from the world, she is loved. I believe this applies to the love of our Heavenly Father as well. Just as an earthly Father longs for his child/ children to know that they are loved, so does God long for us to feel and know His love.