-February 14, 2024-
Good morning, beloved, happy Wednesday, happy Valentine’s Day,
“[Love] bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails.”
(1 Corinthians 13:7-8a).
Love is amazing and God’s love is the greatest, highest, and most wonderful of all. Today is the day love is honored, celebrated, extolled, and shared around the world. Though it is especially for married couples, it is also a blessing for us all.
1 Corinthians 13 is rightfully called “The Love Chapter” in the Bible. Love is the first fruit of the Holy Spirit. Paul wrote the most beautiful treatise on love. He penned, “Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself; is not puffed up; does not behave rudely; does not seek its own; is not provoked; thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails.”
In the Greek there are three words for love, agape, which is God’s love, the sacrificial, giving, caring, unselfish love; phileo, which is love for one’s fellow men, especially our family, friends, and brothers and sisters in Christ; and eros, which the physical, romantic love between married couples. Valentine’s Day is mostly centered on this third type of love.
Saint Valentine’s was an early third century believer in Christ who was martyred for his faith by the Romans. Tradition has it that he was imprisoned awaiting execution and he sent a heart to a young girl whom he had healed. I have heard that he sent little hearts to the saints who were praying for him that he loved them.
Love is not just for lovers, it is for everyone—not just on February 14, but every day of our lives. John, the disciple whom Jesus loved wrote, “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. He who does not love does not know God, for God is love” (1 John 4:7-8).
May God help us to love others as He as loved us. There will be chocolate, cards, flowers, and other beautiful gifts. Let us never forget that God is the source of love, and without Him we wouldn’t know how to love.
Though I don’t know you all personally, I love you as my brothers and sisters in Christ. We may never meet on earth, we will in heaven. Have a blessed Valentine’s Day showing and sharing God’s love. Stay safe and healthy.
A day without love is like day without sunshine; a day with love radiates light, warmth, and energy,
Dean
Dean Allen's Daily Devotional 